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People accessing a child sexual abuse website on the dark web have been found to be living in West Yorkshire.
A total of 63 UK-based users of the site hosting the material were singled out following work by the National Crime Agency (NCA).
Police in Germany started an investigation into the site, Kidflix, which the NCA said resembled a “well-known video streaming service”.
They identified 1,275 users from around the world who had either paid for access to material through crypto currency, or earned access through uploading their own material where they would earn site specific credits which would allow them access to further child abuse imagery.
After receiving information from the German authorities in February, the NCA officers identified 63 UK users who were active on the site and had used cryptocurrency to access CSA material.
Investigators then provided the intelligence to 28 UK forces so action could be taken.
To date, 30 people have been arrested in the UK and the dark web site has been taken down by the German authorities.
NCA senior manager Neil Keeping said: “With thanks to our law enforcement partners in Germany and Europol, a dangerous site hosting tens of thousands of child sexual abuse videos has been taken
“NCA intelligence officers worked quickly to identify the UK users of the site, providing a package of intelligence to forces across the country so arrests could be made and children could be safeguarded.
“Providing this global to local response is paramount in our role to mprotect children from child sexual abuse and criminals who seek out this content.
“We will continue to work with international law enforcement partners to disrupt the online platforms that operate on the dark web, purely for the sexual gratification of offenders, and ensure children are safeguarded from abuse.”
Europol said more than 35 countries were involved in shutting down the website, which it described as ”one of the largest paedophile platforms in the world”.
Europol executive director Catherine De Bolle said: “Some attempt to frame this as merely a technical or cyber issue – but it is not.
“There are real victims behind these crimes, and those victims are children. As a society, we must act to protect our children.”
