Investigators from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) have succeeded in smashing one of the world's largest platforms for child pornography on the Darknet.
Three men are in custody.
Wiesbaden - After several months of investigations, the authorities have achieved success in the fight against the spread of child pornographic content.
As the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) announced on Monday in Wiesbaden, one of the world's largest child pornography platforms in the darknet was smashed with the “Boystown” platform.
Three men were arrested in Germany, and another suspect was caught in Paraguay.
Child porn platform “Boystown” smashed by investigators - searches in mid-April
“The child pornography platform 'Boystown' had existed since at least June 2019 and could only be reached via the so-called Darknet. Most recently it had more than 400,000 members, ”said the BKA in its announcement. The platform was internationally oriented and served the worldwide exchange of child pornography. "The shared image and video recordings also included recordings of the most serious sexual abuse of small children," the BKA continued.
Investigators from the BKA and the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor's Office had already searched seven properties in North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria and Hamburg in mid-April on suspicion of gang-like distribution of child pornography and arrested three men.
At the same time, at the request of the German law enforcement authorities, another suspected gang member was arrested in Paraguay.
According to the BKA, all four accused are between the ages of 40 and 64 and have German citizenship.
Smashed child porn platform: suspects between 40 and 64 years old
According to the BKA, the three main suspects are a 40-year-old man from the Paderborn district, a 49-year-old man from the Mühldorf am Inn district in Bavaria and a 58-year-old man from Northern Germany, who has been in South America lives. "The three men are accused of having operated the child pornography platform as administrators," said the BKA. They are said to have been largely involved in the technical implementation of the darknet side, the establishment and maintenance of the server structure and member support on the platform.
According to the BKA, the fourth accused is a 64-year-old man from Hamburg.
He was suspected of having "registered as a member of" Boystown "in July 2019 and - as one of the most active users of the platform - of having posted over 3,500 posts," the BKA wrote in its message.
Child porn platform "Boystown" switched off: three suspects in custody - one in Paraguay
The three accused living in Germany have been in custody on the basis of the arrest warrants issued by the Frankfurt District Court since their home was searched in mid-April, the investigators reported.
"There is an international arrest warrant from the Frankfurt am Main district court for the suspect in Paraguay," said the BKA.
The suspect is to be extradited on this basis.
According to the BKA, the child porn platform “Boystown” and other associated chat platforms were switched off after the search measures.
Hesse's Justice Minister Eva Kühne-Hörmann (CDU) spoke of a "disgusting platform" and praised the success of the investigation in combating sexual violence against children and young people.
"Behind every photo and video there is horrific suffering and the worst fate," emphasized the minister.
All people who give these representations a market must therefore be dealt with with the greatest consistency.
In Ebersberg, a 51-year-old father was sentenced to a suspended sentence for possessing child pornography.
A 22-year-old from the Dachau district was also sentenced to a suspended sentence.
(ph / dpa)
