A man has been arrested in Guipúzcoa after posting 2,147 files containing images of children, many of a sexual nature, to a forum designed as a sort of meeting point for paedophiles.
The website, hosted by a Dutch company, has 14,000 associate members of which 145, known as the ‘Nobles of the Kingdom’, had special privileges and access to an area where they could sort, classify and comment on the uploaded files.
The detainee in Guipúzcoa was found to have taken most of his photos in San Sebastián, many on the beach or in the parks. He also filmed the young female friends of his own sons. A police search of his home led to the discovery of thousands of child pornography images.
The police operation was international, with arrests being made in a number of countries worldwide. The investigation identified 70 paedophiles in the United Kingdom and a further 234 in 33 other countries and arrests were made in the United States, Canada, Australia, Norway, Italy, Ireland and the United Kingdom.