Berlin | The German judicial police announced Monday the dismantling of a child pornography network on the Darknet presented as one “of the largest in the world” and with more than 400,000 members.
The dismantling of the “BOYSTOWN” platform, which had existed since 2019, took place in mid-April, according to a police statement.
Three Germans were arrested after a months-long investigation by a special German police unit coordinated by Europol and with the collaboration of Dutch, Swedish, Australian, American and Canadian police.
Another, who resides in Paraguay, is the subject of an international arrest warrant on the basis of which he is expected to be delivered to the German authorities. The police did not reveal their identity.
“The platform had an international reach and was used for the exchange of pornography of minors between its members”, mainly photos or videos of abuse perpetrated on boys.
Among them were “images of serious sexual abuse of very young children,” said the police.
Three of the suspects, aged 40, 49 and 58, respectively, are suspected of “having been the administrators of the child pornography platform”. In addition to taking care of network management, they were responsible for “monitoring customers,” said the police.
The fourth, a 64-year-old man, is believed to have been one of the most active users of the platform, and to have posted more than 3,500 messages.