Video chat site Omegle shuts down after 14 years — and an abuse victim's lawsuit

An archive image shows how the Omegle website appeared in early 2014. That year, a young woman says, Omegle paired her with an older man who exploited her starting from when she was 11 and lasting several years. (Wayback Machine/Screenshot by NPR)

Omegle, a random video chat site that began with the ideal of connecting strangers but one that's also long been accused of enabling sexual predators, has ceased operations, according to its founder, Leif K-Brooks.

In a lengthy farewell message, K-Brooks said the website he founded in 2009 aspired to a "platonic ideal" of allowing people to share ideas and form new relationships. But he also admitted that his creation had a darker side.