German law enforcement have dismantled an online platform that enabled the sharing of child sex abuse materials to more than 400,000 members globally. The illicit materials included images and videos showing children, mostly male, being sexually abused.
The illicit platform, called “Boystown” is reported to have been in active existence from as far as June 2019, and supported an international following of members who used forums to exchange the child sex abuse materials.
Investigators revealed that apart from the forums, the platform constituted chat rooms where “Boystown” users would various languages to connect with one another. It turns out that the illicit website had grown to join the league of some of the biggest child sex abuse platforms in the dark web.
In addition, investigators discovered just how sophisticated the platform was built, considering that it was designed to allow the easy retrieval of child sex abuse material by its members.
German authorities announced that they had succeeded to apprehend four persons believed to have been involved in the daily running of the site – three of the suspects were German while the fourth is reported to have been apprehended in Paraguay and is due for extradition to Germany.
The three persons apprehended on German soil are said to have established “Boystown” and executed managerial duties, which included the issuance of advisory to members on how they can stay below the radar of law enforcement.
One of the suspects, a 64-year-old resident of Hamburg, is accused of personally uploading about 3,500 photographs until his arrest.
Further, German law enforcement intimated that the operation led to the shutdown of several other similar websites that have used the dark web as a haven of child sex abuse.
The Investigation
According to a German-language press release, the arrests were made in mid-April through a well-coordinated police operation that has since shut down the platform. The success of the operation was preceded by a police sweep by regional and federal officers who conducted raids across seven addresses in Germany before catching up with the gang.
The pan-European law enforcement agency Europol is reported to have been part of the months-long police probe that was tasked to work closely with agencies in the U.S., the Netherlands, Sweden, Australia, and Canada.
The complexity of the case was highlighted by the need for an interagency partnership in smocking out the suspects and dismantling “Boystown”.
While reporting on the matter, Europol commented on the resilience of child sex abuse communities in the hidden web – the illicit sites have always been agile in responding to law enforcement threats by reestablishing old platforms, building new communities, and making concerted efforts to manage members.
A Growing Threat
The case adds to a long list of global law enforcement interventions to crack down on the dark web-enabled child sex abuse industry. The closure of Boystown does not signal an end to the existence and expansion of similar dark web platforms, but points to a growing threat that does not seem to disappear.
Just recently, German lawmakers passed a legislation to advance the power of law enforcement agencies in dealing with persons suspected to be involved in child abuse – prison terms were extended for convicted child sex abusers as a commitment in the global fight against the trend.
The decision to step up efforts and tighten legislation was pegged on the rather worrying 2018-2019 statistics showing a 65 percent increase in the number of child sex abuse crimes in Germany alone.
Elsewhere, in the U.S., a 2019 case involving a massive child sex abuse darknet platform led to hundreds of arrests and shutdown of the “Welcome to Video” website.
German law enforcement have dismantled an online platform that enabled the sharing of child sex abuse materials to more than 400,000 members globally. The illicit materials included images and videos showing children, mostly male, being sexually abused.
The illicit platform, called “Boystown” is reported to have been in active existence from as far as June 2019, and supported an international following of members who used forums to exchange the child sex abuse materials.
Investigators revealed that apart from the forums, the platform constituted chat rooms where “Boystown” users would various languages to connect with one another. It turns out that the illicit website had grown to join the league of some of the biggest child sex abuse platforms in the dark web.
In addition, investigators discovered just how sophisticated the platform was built, considering that it was designed to allow the easy retrieval of child sex abuse material by its members.
German authorities announced that they had succeeded to apprehend four persons believed to have been involved in the daily running of the site – three of the suspects were German while the fourth is reported to have been apprehended in Paraguay and is due for extradition to Germany.
The three persons apprehended on German soil are said to have established “Boystown” and executed managerial duties, which included the issuance of advisory to members on how they can stay below the radar of law enforcement.
One of the suspects, a 64-year-old resident of Hamburg, is accused of personally uploading about 3,500 photographs until his arrest.
Further, German law enforcement intimated that the operation led to the shutdown of several other similar websites that have used the dark web as a haven of child sex abuse.
The Investigation
According to a German-language press release, the arrests were made in mid-April through a well-coordinated police operation that has since shut down the platform. The success of the operation was preceded by a police sweep by regional and federal officers who conducted raids across seven addresses in Germany before catching up with the gang.
The pan-European law enforcement agency Europol is reported to have been part of the months-long police probe that was tasked to work closely with agencies in the U.S., the Netherlands, Sweden, Australia, and Canada.
The complexity of the case was highlighted by the need for an interagency partnership in smocking out the suspects and dismantling “Boystown”.
While reporting on the matter, Europol commented on the resilience of child sex abuse communities in the hidden web – the illicit sites have always been agile in responding to law enforcement threats by reestablishing old platforms, building new communities, and making concerted efforts to manage members.
A Growing Threat
The case adds to a long list of global law enforcement interventions to crack down on the dark web-enabled child sex abuse industry. The closure of Boystown does not signal an end to the existence and expansion of similar dark web platforms, but points to a growing threat that does not seem to disappear.
Just recently, German lawmakers passed a legislation to advance the power of law enforcement agencies in dealing with persons suspected to be involved in child abuse – prison terms were extended for convicted child sex abusers as a commitment in the global fight against the trend.
The decision to step up efforts and tighten legislation was pegged on the rather worrying 2018-2019 statistics showing a 65 percent increase in the number of child sex abuse crimes in Germany alone.
Elsewhere, in the U.S., a 2019 case involving a massive child sex abuse darknet platform led to hundreds of arrests and shutdown of the “Welcome to Video” website.
German law enforcement have dismantled an online platform that enabled the sharing of child sex abuse materials to more than 400,000 members globally. The illicit materials included images and videos showing children, mostly male, being sexually abused.
The illicit platform, called “Boystown” is reported to have been in active existence from as far as June 2019, and supported an international following of members who used forums to exchange the child sex abuse materials.
Investigators revealed that apart from the forums, the platform constituted chat rooms where “Boystown” users would various languages to connect with one another. It turns out that the illicit website had grown to join the league of some of the biggest child sex abuse platforms in the dark web.
In addition, investigators discovered just how sophisticated the platform was built, considering that it was designed to allow the easy retrieval of child sex abuse material by its members.
German authorities announced that they had succeeded to apprehend four persons believed to have been involved in the daily running of the site – three of the suspects were German while the fourth is reported to have been apprehended in Paraguay and is due for extradition to Germany.
The three persons apprehended on German soil are said to have established “Boystown” and executed managerial duties, which included the issuance of advisory to members on how they can stay below the radar of law enforcement.
One of the suspects, a 64-year-old resident of Hamburg, is accused of personally uploading about 3,500 photographs until his arrest.
Further, German law enforcement intimated that the operation led to the shutdown of several other similar websites that have used the dark web as a haven of child sex abuse.
The Investigation
According to a German-language press release, the arrests were made in mid-April through a well-coordinated police operation that has since shut down the platform. The success of the operation was preceded by a police sweep by regional and federal officers who conducted raids across seven addresses in Germany before catching up with the gang.
The pan-European law enforcement agency Europol is reported to have been part of the months-long police probe that was tasked to work closely with agencies in the U.S., the Netherlands, Sweden, Australia, and Canada.
The complexity of the case was highlighted by the need for an interagency partnership in smocking out the suspects and dismantling “Boystown”.
While reporting on the matter, Europol commented on the resilience of child sex abuse communities in the hidden web – the illicit sites have always been agile in responding to law enforcement threats by reestablishing old platforms, building new communities, and making concerted efforts to manage members.
A Growing Threat
The case adds to a long list of global law enforcement interventions to crack down on the dark web-enabled child sex abuse industry. The closure of Boystown does not signal an end to the existence and expansion of similar dark web platforms, but points to a growing threat that does not seem to disappear.
Just recently, German lawmakers passed a legislation to advance the power of law enforcement agencies in dealing with persons suspected to be involved in child abuse – prison terms were extended for convicted child sex abusers as a commitment in the global fight against the trend.
The decision to step up efforts and tighten legislation was pegged on the rather worrying 2018-2019 statistics showing a 65 percent increase in the number of child sex abuse crimes in Germany alone.
Elsewhere, in the U.S., a 2019 case involving a massive child sex abuse darknet platform led to hundreds of arrests and shutdown of the “Welcome to Video” website.
German law enforcement have dismantled an online platform that enabled the sharing of child sex abuse materials to more than 400,000 members globally. The illicit materials included images and videos showing children, mostly male, being sexually abused.
The illicit platform, called “Boystown” is reported to have been in active existence from as far as June 2019, and supported an international following of members who used forums to exchange the child sex abuse materials.
Investigators revealed that apart from the forums, the platform constituted chat rooms where “Boystown” users would various languages to connect with one another. It turns out that the illicit website had grown to join the league of some of the biggest child sex abuse platforms in the dark web.
In addition, investigators discovered just how sophisticated the platform was built, considering that it was designed to allow the easy retrieval of child sex abuse material by its members.
German authorities announced that they had succeeded to apprehend four persons believed to have been involved in the daily running of the site – three of the suspects were German while the fourth is reported to have been apprehended in Paraguay and is due for extradition to Germany.
The three persons apprehended on German soil are said to have established “Boystown” and executed managerial duties, which included the issuance of advisory to members on how they can stay below the radar of law enforcement.
One of the suspects, a 64-year-old resident of Hamburg, is accused of personally uploading about 3,500 photographs until his arrest.
Further, German law enforcement intimated that the operation led to the shutdown of several other similar websites that have used the dark web as a haven of child sex abuse.
The Investigation
According to a German-language press release, the arrests were made in mid-April through a well-coordinated police operation that has since shut down the platform. The success of the operation was preceded by a police sweep by regional and federal officers who conducted raids across seven addresses in Germany before catching up with the gang.
The pan-European law enforcement agency Europol is reported to have been part of the months-long police probe that was tasked to work closely with agencies in the U.S., the Netherlands, Sweden, Australia, and Canada.
The complexity of the case was highlighted by the need for an interagency partnership in smocking out the suspects and dismantling “Boystown”.
While reporting on the matter, Europol commented on the resilience of child sex abuse communities in the hidden web – the illicit sites have always been agile in responding to law enforcement threats by reestablishing old platforms, building new communities, and making concerted efforts to manage members.
A Growing Threat
The case adds to a long list of global law enforcement interventions to crack down on the dark web-enabled child sex abuse industry. The closure of Boystown does not signal an end to the existence and expansion of similar dark web platforms, but points to a growing threat that does not seem to disappear.
Just recently, German lawmakers passed a legislation to advance the power of law enforcement agencies in dealing with persons suspected to be involved in child abuse – prison terms were extended for convicted child sex abusers as a commitment in the global fight against the trend.
The decision to step up efforts and tighten legislation was pegged on the rather worrying 2018-2019 statistics showing a 65 percent increase in the number of child sex abuse crimes in Germany alone.
Elsewhere, in the U.S., a 2019 case involving a massive child sex abuse darknet platform led to hundreds of arrests and shutdown of the “Welcome to Video” website.
