German Police Arrest Child Pornography Network With More Than 400,000 Members

The German police have broken down an international child pornography network with more than 400,000 users. It is said to be one of the world’s largest Darknet child pornography platforms. Four people have been arrested, the police report.

 

After the arrests in Germany, the BOYSTOWN platform and its two chat platforms were shut down. The German police report that extensive investigations have been carried out for months under the coordination of Europol with the help of investigative authorities in the Netherlands, Australia and the United States.

According to the police, the BOYSTOWN platform was active since June 2019. The members mainly exchanged recordings of boys. According to the police, these images show severe forms of sexual abuse.

Three people are accused of being the network’s administrators. It concerns a 40-year-old man from Paderborn, a 49-year-old from Munich and a 58-year-old German who has lived in Paraguay for several years. A 64-year-old man from Hamburg is suspected of registering in July 2019 and posting more than 3,500 posts as one of the most active users.

The suspects living in Germany have been detained since mid-April. An international arrest warrant has been issued for the man in Paraguay. On that basis, he will be extradited to Germany, police said. The investigation into the illegal network searched seven locations in North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria and Hamburg.