Reddit reviews Darkest Web : Drugs, death and destroyed lives ... the inside story of the internet's evil twin

Ah sheeeit, this is where I really want to say "Buy my book" because it genuinely answers this question.

TL;DR is he was a sad, friendless person with no paedophilic tendencies, became both the most hated person on the dark web, but also a mega-hero to a small, perverse group who worshipped him more and more, the more extremely dark material he could provide. He thrived on the attention and accolades. Eventually he became obsessed with the violent material and wanked himself dry over it. However, no evidence he ever contact offended with a child