Police in Germany have broken up a child abuse network, believed to have as many as 400,000 members. Four men accused of running the operation have been arrested and are in custody.
The site was known as “BOYSTOWN” and could only be accessed via the dark web. It was set up in 2019 for the purposes of distributing graphic images and videos of child abuse. 
The police operation took place over several months. The suspects include a 40-year-old from Paderborn, a 49-year-old from Munich and a 58-year-old from northern Germany who had been living in Paraguay for years.
The fourth man in custody is a 64-year-old from Hamburg. He is believed to have uploaded more than 3,500 images and videos to the site since becoming a member in 2019.
Police believe that the site was set up to allow people from all over the world share images of children being abused. German prosecutors have described some of the videos and recordings as the most severe abuse of children they’ve ever seen.
The site has been taken down and the German authorities are working with police forces around Europe and beyond, to identify members.
Other media outlets are reporting this story this morning, but are calling it a child-porn story. Why do they refer to child abuse as child porn? I don’t like it. In fact I find it disgusting.
We’re talking about the rape and torture of children. It’s about the worst crime imaginable. The media should call it what it is.
