Child Pornography In Germany: Police Shut Down One Of The Largest Darknet Sites

German police have taken down one of the biggest international darknet platforms for child pornography. “Boystown,” which was used by over 400,000 registered members, contained more than 3,500 uploaded pornographic images.

Prosecutors announced Monday that three suspected administrators on the “Boystown” platform were arrested as well as one user. German publication Deutsche Welle reported that the four German citizens were between the ages of 40 and 64. One suspect was arrested in Paraguay.

Police believe the site has been around since at least June 2019 and “served the worldwide exchange of child pornography by platform members, whereby mainly recordings of abuse of boys were exchanged.”

In mid-April, authorities searched seven buildings in Germany that were connected to the child pornography ring before they were able to track down some of the men involved.

Prosecutor Julia Bussweiler revealed users of the sites were able to communicate in chats but shared pornographic images through forums.

“The platform had several forums and chats — the illegal pictures and videos were kept in the forums; in the chats, the members could communicate,” Bussweiler said.

"There were several language channels to facilitate the communication."

Amid the bust, officials were able to uncover photos and video, including “images of most severe sexual abuse of toddlers.”

Although bust is a major accomplishment for authorities, Bussweiler revealed there is still more that needs to be done to combat online child pornography.

“There were and there are still several sites similar to Boystown in the darknet. For this reason, investigations will go on to identify the responsible persons behind these darknet sites,” she said.