April 2021, Germany uncovered a global network. Since June 2019, the "Boystown" network , which traded images of child sexual abuse worldwide, is believed to have amassed over 400,000 users. In mid-April 2021, German investigators arrested several perpetrators in Germany (Paderborn, Munich, Hamburg), and an international arrest warrant was issued for a man in Paraguay, whose extradition to Germany has been requested. Seven house searches were conducted in Germany, and the platform was shut down. The network's servers were located in Moldova. The platform primarily featured depictions of violence against boys, including toddlers. Law enforcement agencies in Sweden, the USA, Australia, and Canada participated in the investigation. Until now, “Elysium” was considered the largest network discovered to date, with 111,000 users – the now-dismantled “Boystown” was four times as large. (Source: Press release from the Federal Criminal Police Office ( BKA) dated May 3, 2021, accessed March 17, 2023 Update 2022 : An investigation by NDR and Spiegel revealed that the images from the “Boystown” network were available online again after a short time because the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) did not have them removed.
