boylover child porn ring. Rescue 203 boys

Global raids shut boylover.net, arrest 184 men, rescue 230 kids

By Nate Anderson | Published 5 months ago

Police around the globe have wrapped up the largest child sex abuse case in history after three years of investigation into the website boylover.net. One hundred eighty-four arrests have already been made in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Europe, with 230 child victims "safeguarded" by authorities. Four hundred more suspected sex abusers are still being sought.

The investigation began back in 2007, when boylover.net came to the attention of the UK's Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre. CEOP soon learned that the Australian Federal Police had independently identified and begun investigating boylover.net; the two agencies joined forces. By the time they were through, the case would also involve US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, the New Zealand Police, Europol, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, with additional arrests carried out by police departments in Belgium, Greece, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, and Spain.

According to authorities, boylover.net tried to stay legal by hosting only "discussions" about its members' sexual desires. But members used the site to make contact with one another, after which they "would move to more private channels such as e-mail in order to exchange and share illegal images and films of children being abused."

Investigators infiltrated the site, looking for "those members who were assessed as posing the highest risk to children." (An Australian paper notes that Aussie police would assume the online identities of men they had just arrested in order to keep suspicions down.) What they found horrified them, and allegedly went well beyond just online picture exchanges; several members were involved in "offline offending," and it was data from this investigation that led to the arrest of UK nationals in Thailand back in 2008. The men were suspected of committing child sex abuse in the country.

While investigators were posing as site members, police also tracked down the boylover.net server to a physical location in the Netherlands. At that point, both the local Zaanstreek-Waterland Police and Europol were brought into the case. Official descriptions from CEOP and Europol are sketchy on what happened next, but police at least got access to the server and made a copy of its hard drive.

Europol analysts helped complete the case. In January 2010, they used a copy of the server's hard drive to rebuild the boylover.net forums offline, and they then "forensically interrogated the server," apparently looking for IP addresses of members. Europol then sent out 4,202 intelligence reports to police in 33 countries, the police tracked down local members, and the global door kicking-in accelerated. (Arrests had been made since at least 2009 as specific information became available.)

UK police raid on suspect home

Europol

Results of the massive investigation were not revealed until yesterday, so some cases have already progressed through the court system. In Australia, for instance, local media reports say that several child sex abuse suspects have already been sentenced. The Sydney Morning Herald notes that these cases went far beyond pictures and videos.

"A 25-year-old Sydney man from Eastwood was sentenced to eight years in 2010 on multiple charges including three counts of having sex with a child, while Victorian Bryan Cooper is serving seven years for procuring boys for sex," said the paper's report. "Sydney man David Anthony Hudson, 40, from Russell Lea, was jailed for his role in an international child sex tourism ring and is spending a minimum five years and seven months in jail for offenses against a Thai teenager… George Iliakis, a former teacher from exclusive Brighton Grammar in Melbourne, sent videos and pictures of young boys to other members of the ring, which at its height had 70,000 members. Iliakis, who is serving a minimum two-year sentence, handcuffed and gagged boys before photographing them for his sexual gratification."

Four Australian children were rescued from members of the network.

In New Zealand, six suspected pedophiles were arrested and three children were rescued. In Canada, two arrests were made. In the UK, CEOP identified 240 suspects and has been working with police to arrest them. So far, it says, "The UK suspects in this operation are aged between 17 and 82 and come from all walks of life. They include police officers, scout leaders and teachers."

Dutch police believe they have the site's ringleader, a 37 year old from the town of Krommenie. Identified only as "Amir I," he appeared in a Haarlem court on Tuesday.

Boylover.net has been closed.

Further reading

• CEOP statement (ceop.police.uk)
• Europol statement (europol.europa.eu)

boylover.net, bit the dust! HUNDREDS OF SUSPECTS ARRESTED

Wednesday 16 March 2011

HUNDREDS OF SUSPECTS TRACKED IN INTERNATIONAL CHILD ABUSE INVESTIGATION

• UK’s national centre for protecting children leads global operation
• Forces in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK, US and Europol work collaboratively
• Offenders tracked to many other countries including Italy, Spain and Thailand

•  670 offenders targeted across the world
• 184 offenders arrested to date worldwide
• 230 children safeguarded to date worldwide

• 240 offenders targeted in the UK
• 121 offenders arrested to date in the UK
• 60 children safeguarded to date in the UK

Hundreds of suspected paedophiles have been identified and many children safeguarded following one of the biggest investigations of its kind so far by law enforcement agencies across the world. 

The suspects were members of an online forum – boylover.net - which was operated from a server based in the Netherlands.

Known as Operation Rescue, the investigation has run for over three years and was led by the UK’s national centre for child protection – the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre - who joined up with the Australian Federal Police (AFP), the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE), New Zealand Police, Europol, the Zaanstreek-Waterland Police in the Netherlands and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to track offenders on a truly global scale. 

So far 184 arrests have been made worldwide and 230 children safeguarded. In the UK alone 60 children have been safeguarded and 121 offenders arrested of which there have been 33 convictions. Investigations across the world continue. 

The website, which has now been taken down, attempted to operate as a ‘discussion only’ forum where people could share their sexual interest in young boys without committing any specific offences, thus operating ‘below the radar’.  Having made contact on the site, however, members would move to more private channels such as email in order to exchange and share illegal images and films of children being abused.   

During the investigation, CEOP and the AFP’s covert internet teams also tracked the migration of offenders to other sites where further investigations and risk assessments continued against multiple suspects who did not realise they were the focus of law enforcement attention. 

Operation Rescue began in 2007, when the site came to the attention of both CEOP and the AFP during independent enquiries. Already working together as part of the Virtual Global Taskforce - an international alliance of law enforcement agencies working to combat online child sexual abuse - the UK and Australia joined forces to progress the investigation. 

Covert investigators were deployed to infiltrate the site in order to quickly identify those members who were assessed as posing the highest risk to children. The extent to which members of the site were also involved in networking in the ‘real world’ and in offline offending emerged. In February 2008, for example, CEOP provided intelligence to the Royal Thai Police about British nationals who were suspected of committing child sexual abuse in their jurisdiction. This led ultimately to Operation Naga in November 2008, during which four suspects were arrested. 

In March 2008, CEOP located the owner of the site and traced the server to Holland, involving the Zaanstreek-Waterland Police in the Netherlands and Europol in the investigation. 

Between June 2008 and June 2009, the US ICE agency, the Italian Postal and Communications Police, the RCMP and the New Zealand Police all joined the investigation as the scale of the international network became clear and suspects were identified in their jurisdictions.  

Further interrogation of the server by the Zaanstreek-Waterland Police in the Netherlands and Europol led to further international disseminations. 

Having identified 240 suspected offenders in the UK, CEOP continues to work with forces who are actively pursuing the intelligence arising from Operation Rescue.  This has lead to the arrest of a number of individuals suspected of serious offences against children, some of whom are now awaiting trial.  The UK suspects in this operation are aged between 17 and 82 and come from all walks of life. They include police officers, scout leaders and teachers.  

Peter Davies, the UK’s police chief who leads the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre and is also the UK’s lead for child protection said:

“The scale and success of Operation Rescue has broken new ground. Not only is it one of the largest operation of its kind to date – and the biggest operation we have lead - it also demonstrates the impact of international law enforcement agencies working together with one single objective – to safeguard children and bring offenders to justice.  That drive has been the hallmark of all the forces and teams involved. 

“What we show today is that while these offenders felt anonymous in some way because they were using the internet to communicate, the technology was actually being used against them. Everything they did online, everyone they talked to or anything they shared could and was tracked by following the digital footprint. 

“We are grateful to the support of our law enforcement colleagues both nationally and internationally who have supported CEOP in this operation.”

boylover - more than 200 children identified and rescued in worldwide police operation

EUROPOL The Hague, the Netherlands 

16 March 2011

With the leading support of Europol, police have arrested 184 suspected child sex offenders and identified over 200 victims of child abuse following one of the biggest investigations of its kind by law enforcement agencies across the world.

With investigations still continuing, 670 suspects have been identified across the world already, 184 arrests made and 230 children safeguarded. The number of victims safeguarded is the highest ever achieved from this type of investigation, and is set to rise even further in the coming weeks.

These spectacular operational results were the work of effective police cooperation across many countries. Instrumental to the success was the unique role played by Europol in identifying the members of the child sex abuse network and facilitating operational action by police authorities in multiple jurisdictions. In particular it was the work of Europol analysts in cracking the security features of a key computer server at the centre of the network which uncovered the identity and activity of the suspected child sex offenders. Europol subsequently issued over 4000 intelligence reports to police authorities in over 30 countries in Europe and elsewhere, which has led to the arrests of suspects and the safeguarding of children. These reports also identified links between this network and those featured in multiple other investigations.

"I am proud of the exceptional work of our experts in helping police authorities around the world to record these groundbreaking results. The safeguarding of so many vulnerable children is particularly rewarding and demonstrates the commitment of our agency to make Europe a safer place for its citizens. I also pay tribute to the relevant authorities in Europe and elsewhere for their operational work in tracking down the suspected criminals and their victims," says Rob Wainwright, Director of Europol.

Known as Operation Rescue, this complex case has run for three years, with Europol supporting and coordinating investigations for the last 1.5 years. Law enforcement authorities have been brought together from 13 countries to track offenders on a truly global scale. Countries involved: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Greece, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Spain, United Kingdom and the United States. Some other countries, although not listed, still have investigations ongoing in which suspects have been identified.

The suspected child sex offenders were members of an online forum – boylover.net – that promoted sexual relationships between adults and young boys. The website operated from a server based in the Netherlands and, at its height, boasted up to 70 000 members worldwide.

The website has now been taken down. It attempted to operate as a ‘discussion–only’ forum where people could share their sexual interest in young boys without committing any specific offences, thus operating ‘below the radar’ of police attention. Having made contact on the site, some members would move to more private channels, such as email, to exchange and share illegal images and films of children being abused. Computers seized from those arrested have harvested huge quantities of child abuse images and videos.

At the start of the investigation, UK and Australian covert police internet teams infiltrated the boylover.net site to quickly identify those members who were assessed as posing the highest risk to children. They also tracked the migration of offenders to other sites where further investigations and risk assessments continued.

In 2009, the UK’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre located the owner of the website and traced the server to Holland, involving the Zaanstreek–Waterland Police in the Netherlands and also bringing Europol into the investigation.

Between June 2008 and June 2009, Canadian, Italian, New Zealand and US law enforcement authorities all joined the investigation, as the scale of the international network became clear and suspects were identified in their jurisdictions.

In January 2010, a copy of the seized site's server was received by Europol, and the Australian and UK police. Working with Zaanstreek–Waterland Police in the Netherlands, Europol rebuilt the forum offline and forensically interrogated the server to produce intelligence analysis which was disseminated globally to law enforcement authorities. So far, Europol has distributed 4202 operational intelligence reports to 25 EU Member States and 8 other countries.

Having identified at least 670 suspected offenders, international law enforcement authorities continue to work with forces which are actively pursuing the intelligence arising from Operation Rescue. This has led to the arrest of a number of individuals suspected of serious offences against children, who are now awaiting trial.