In the framework of the international investigation, with the participation of the FBI in the U.S., among others, there have been several arrests in different countries. Already on November 3 last year, investigators arrested a 22-year-old man in Bonn, as Christoph Hebbecker of the Cologne public prosecutor's office confirmed to the General-Anzeiger.

The Bamberg authorities transferred the case to the Cologne authorities because of the close proximity. The Central and Contact Point for Cybercrime (ZAC), which is responsible for North Rhine-Westphalia, is located there. The 22-year-old has been in pre-trial detention since his arrest and has so far not admitted to the charge of “gang-related making available of child pornographic content" in several cases. "We want to determine with whom he has exchanged information so we can identify these persons as well," Hebbecker said.

According to the GA's information from investigative circles, the young man lived in the district of Beuel and had no children of his own. He is said to have acted as moderator and administrator on the platforms that have now been shut down. Whether the 22-year-old has pedophilic tendencies or profited as an operator from a business model is the subject of the investigation. During the arrest, computers and hard drives were confiscated from the man's apartment. Apparently, at least some of the data on them is encrypted.

The investigation by the Bamberg authorities began in November of 2019. On an English-language chat site and a German offshoot, access for users was "very uncomplicated and without registration or login." They shared child pornography content there and exchanged information about their inclinations. On the third platform, admission to the inner circle was only possible after invitation by an administrator and only if the interested parties had previously provided child pornographic images or videos.

When the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office (BLKA) realized the international scale of the platform, investigators contacted authorities in the U.S., the U.K. and Australia. There was also a face-to-face meeting in Munich, the BLKA said. In the first half of 2022, the FBI was able to arrest an administrator and a programmer in the United States. This was followed in November by the arrest there of a man who is said to have been the main administrator of the Darknet site. Two moderators of the chat histories were arrested by British security authorities.

In addition to the arrests of the operators, more than 30 users of the platforms were targeted by detectives. The State Criminal Police Office deployed undercover investigators. In May 2021, for example, a 62-year-old veterinarian was arrested at a Bavarian rehabilitation clinic, where 800,000 images and videos with pornographic content were found. Criminal proceedings against this man are still ongoing.

Harald Pickert, president of the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office, spoke of an "important blow against the distribution of child pornography content on the Darknet." He added that the perpetrators must expect to be held accountable there as well. “Not even the Darknet is a lawless space."

Original text: Philipp Königs, dpa/ga

Translation: Carol Kloeppel