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[Captain Smoker]

Good job police.

German police have uncovered an underground website for child pornography with nearly 90,000 users and arrested the suspected operator of the platform, prosecutors said on Thursday.

The "Elysium" platform, built as a forum, has existed since the end of 2016 and was only accessible via the so-called Darknet, Frankfurt public prosecutor's office and BKA Federal Police said in a statement.

Police had arrested several users of the website, mainly in Germany and Austria, it said. Among them was the suspected operator of the platform, a 39-year-old man living in the district of Limburg-Weilburg north of Frankfurt.

The website had more than 87,000 users and was used for the worldwide exchange of child pornography and to make appointments for the sexual abuse of children, prosecutors said.

"Among the child pornographic images and video files exchanged by the members of the platform were recordings of the most serious sexual abuse of children, including toddlers and depiction of sexual violence against children," it said.

The suspected operator was arrested on June 12 when police raided his apartment and seized the server of the platform.

The statement did not say how many people had been arrested, adding that more details of the case would be made available at a news conference on Friday.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-sexcrimes-idUSKBN19R0VD?il=0



Also quite interesting is the german article from SZ which describes the work of the internet special forces and how they track down suspects. (Google Translate)

The fact that the platform was discovered is due to the Central Office for Combating Internet Crime (ZIT) in Giessen, a highly specialized unit of the Generalstaatsanwaltschaft Frankfurt. The experts for internet crime are specialized in locating the perpetrators using technical means. This includes IP addresses of the computers, as well as attempts to define when the recordings were made.

Then there is the so-called Exif data, which is information that is automatically stored in every image of a digital camera or smartphones. Sometimes, according to meticulous search, even GPS location information can be found on the data carriers. If this is not possible, an attempt is made to get hints on the abuse photos. Pictures in the room, scaffolding scanned in shelves, manufacturers of bedspreads are spatially assigned.

Occasionally, the investigators use more unusual methods: if they can not find the perpetrators, they first try to identify the victims. They turn to schools and show teachers photos of children who circulate on internet platforms. In the photos are no sexual acts to be seen, only the faces of the abused children frontal. In the past, the method has repeatedly led to successes.

http://www.sueddeutsche.de/panorama...noplattform-mit-fast-mitgliedern-ab-1.3575951

 

[Zaru]

Only half a year old and already that many members?
That tells me another such platform will sprout quickly.
Sickening.

 

[Charles Brandon]

Good news but my god what a horrible job to examine that footage again and again for clues.

 

[CaviarMeths]

All of this is sickening but

"Among the child pornographic images and video files exchanged by the members of the platform were recordings of the most serious sexual abuse of children, including toddlers and depiction of sexual violence against children," it said.

Holy fuck this makes me angry.

 

[fabricated backlash]

I feel sick to my stomach. I could never work in such a division, being witness to such crimes. Ugh.

 

[Kinsei]

Good job to all of the police involved.

I feel sick to my stomach. I could never work in such a division, being witness to such crimes. Ugh.

Same here.

 

[Westbahnhof]

What the fuck. So many people.
But good. Very good. Throw them all onto some dark hole.
Just sickening.

Question on the side: What is the dark web which one "uses"? Like some kind of.. VPN? It always sounds fake to me. The idea of a secret internet.

 

[J4g3r]

Absolutely sickening, good job German Police.

 

[Slayer-33]

Wooow what savagery

 

[commedieu]

Toddlers.....

Come on.

 

[Chuckie]

All of this is sickening but

Holy fuck this makes me angry.

Yes. That part made me fucking sick in the stomach and seething with rage

 

[MarkMclovin]

Only half a year old and already that many members?
That tells me another such platform will sprout quickly.
Sickening.

It's great news but I thought that sites like these are monitored rather than brought down to stop others from being created? It makes the job more difficult apparently.

Either way, 90 thousand people can burn in hell.

 

[Steiner84]

What the fuck. So many people.
But good. Very good. Throw them all onto some dark hole.
Just sickening.

Question on the side: What is the dark web which one "uses"? Like some kind of.. VPN? It always sounds fake to me. The idea of a secret internet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_(anonymity_network)

 

[Maximo]

Good news but my god what a horrible job to examine that footage again and again for clues.

Yeah fucking seriously...

 

[GrizzleBoy]

All of this is sickening but

Holy fuck this makes me angry.

Recordings.....

 

[DJwest]

87000 members? Damn. And I'm sure you would find people from all walks of life: doctors, teachers, lawyers, bankers, etc... Sickening.

 

[Machina]

87,000 members

Nuke the planet from orbit, we're done.

 

[Luxorek]

Good job, German Police. It's a shame that it's a Sisyphean task, these scumbags always find a way to organize again. You hear about crackdowns such as these every year or two.

 

[The Mule]

As a new father to a 6 month old, this enrages me.

87,000?! What the actual fuck.

I hope every last one of them is arrested and rehabilitated.

 

[Mendrox]

87000 members? Damn. And I'm sure you would find people from all walks of life: doctors, teachers, lawyers, bankers, etc... Sickening.

That is really a lot...holy shit. Makes sou think how many sick people you see everyday or sit nearby. Good Job Police.

 

[Sunster]

save those kids.

 

[MarkMclovin]

I feel sick to my stomach. I could never work in such a division, being witness to such crimes. Ugh.

I almost applied for this very job a few years back. Couldn't get past the application form and the description of the job.

These people have regular mental health checks and counselling due to the content. Was trying for a kid myself at the time and I just noped right out of there.

Massive respect for these people.

 

[Linkstrikesback]

And may every single user of that site be found and thrown in the deepest pit they can make, never to be seen again. Scum.

 

[Moff]

Good news they bust them, but terrible news this even existed in the first place.

 

[YesNOnoNOYes]

good job police

reading that there is such large demand for it is harrowing

 

[John Kowalski]

Great news and i hope they manage to save the children too

 

[Radec]

I feel sick to my stomach. I could never work in such a division, being witness to such crimes. Ugh.

I assume those who work there are child molesters themselves.

I mean who in the right mind would keep a straight face when operating those.

 

[Aiii]

Question on the side: What is the dark web which one "uses"? Like some kind of.. VPN? It always sounds fake to me. The idea of a secret internet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joxQ_XbsPVw&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRYzre4bf7I

Watch these.

 

[Busty]

Good news they bust them, but terrible news this even existed in the first place.

Sad but true. As someone else said I suppose the positives we can take from this is that this platform was 'only' up and running for 6 months, implying that more and more the Police are getting on top of that shit, and that nearly 90,000 of these sick fucks can no longer hide in the shadows.

As someone who couldn't log onto the 'dark net' if their life depended on it there doesn't seem to be any of value on there unless you're looking for upsetting images or someone to kill your SO.

Urgh.

 

[NoblesseOblige]

87,000?! What the actual fuck.

Not to be a downer but 87,000 is likely a small fraction of the people who consume that stuff.

 

[johancruijff]

throw the jail on top of them

 

[Symphonia]

Great news and i hope they manage to save the children too

In a case this big? Sadly, this is very unlikely. A lot of dark web material is just old content shared and shared again. They could probably trace images/videos back to their origins but, sadly, the children involved are no longer children.

 

[KHlover]

87k members, what the FUCK. Good thing some of those fuckos were careless with exif data, you'd think they'd remove that from the images when they're trading child pornography.

 

[_Ryo_]

Congrats to the police for achieving this.

It is absolutely fucking disgusting. Find em all and put em away.

How can so many people be so sick and how could a site get so many users that quickly. Just wtf

 

[John Kowalski]

In a case this big? Sadly, this is very unlikely. A lot of dark web material is just old content shared and shared again. They could probably trace images/videos back to their origins but, sadly, the children involved are no longer children.

Hmm didn't mean particular to this case, just in general

Not to be a downer but 87,000 is likely a small fraction of the people who consume that stuff.

I'd add that the number of people who want to consume this kind of pornography isprobably exponentially bigger than those who have the technical know how to navigate unlisted web pages

 

[MassiveNights]

That's a lot of people for a six month site. Wild.

 

[Thornton Reed]

As a new father to a 6 month old, this enrages me.

87,000?! What the actual fuck.

I hope every last one of them is arrested and rehabilitated.

is this even possible, how do you cure someone of their sexual preference?

If you mean chemical castration then i'm all for that.

 

[Symphonia]

Hmm didn't mean particular to this case, just in general

Then this is even more unlikely. Just look at the numbers. 87,000 in a case in Germany alone. Imagine that number, if not bigger, for each country in the world. You'd be looking at millions upon millions of cases. There's not enough man power in the world to bust even a quarter of the sick fucks behind this shit.

 

[Shaanyboi]

Jesus christ... that member count is fucking terrifying.

 

[NEO0MJ]

87k in half a year? Crazy. How does a site like even get shared? Not through Twitter, that's for sure( unless it's via code?).
Wonder if you know who joined it.

 

[JonnyDBrit]

Hope they can use data from the site to find even more of these bastards. Otherwise 87000 users are just gonna find a new home and start all over again.

 

[GAMEPROFF]

is this even possible, how do you cure someone of their sexual preference?

If you mean chemical castration then i'm all for that.

There are theraphys exactly for this at the Charitee in Berlin.
I heard a documentation about this institution a few months ago, looks like they are pretty successful.

 

[Carn82]

Then this is even more unlikely. Just look at the numbers. 87,000 in a case in Germany alone. Imagine that number, if not bigger, for each country in the world. You'd be looking at millions upon millions of cases. There's not enough man power in the world to bust even a quarter of the sick fucks behind this shit.

the server was hosted in Germany but had 87.000 users; my guess is that those users can come from anywhere. But still, thats a lot.

 

[eizarus]

There are theraphys exactly for this at the Charitee in Berlin.
I heard a documentation about this institution a few months ago, looks like they are pretty successful.

I remember hearing something like this. I hope there's further research into rehabilitation of paedophiles. It would be ground breaking if rehab worked.

 

[ShyMel]

Hopefully more sites will get shit down. I do hope that the victims can be found and helped.

 

[Skinpop]

is this even possible, how do you cure someone of their sexual preference?

I guess he meant rehabilitated from being a criminal(producing/consuming cp), ie learning not to act on urges.

 

[Permanently A]

People who do the job of hunting down these bastards and saving these children have my utmost respect... I couldn't do this job, I don't have the guts for it.

 

[JimCareyGaveMeChlamydia]

Toddlers.....

Come on.

Peadophiles are some of the sickest fucks on earth. Did you think they have moral boundaries? Amir0x pretended to be all about the good fight but in between was jacking off to child porn.
Chemical castration should be the baseline treatment for these people.

 

[Symphonia]

the server was hosted in Germany but had 87.000 users; my guess is that those users can come from anywhere. But still, thats a lot.

My statement still stands. 87,000 is a small percentage of the total number of pedos using the dark web.

 

[TheRedSnifit]

Question on the side: What is the dark web which one "uses"? Like some kind of.. VPN? It always sounds fake to me. The idea of a secret internet.

You use a program called TOR, which allows you to access data otherwise unavailable (colloquially .onion sites). Once you are in the TOR internet, you basically have access to all normal internet + onion sites, which are hard to find because crawler search engines cannot find them. What you usually do is find a reference site (for example, use duckduckgo to find a text dump that contains addresses to onion sites) and try to find what you want, though 99% of darknet sites are password protected.