Germany busts 3 darknet sites hosting child abuse images

BERLIN (AP) — German police say they have taken down three darknet sites used to distribute images and videos of child sexual abuse. Federal Criminal Police said Friday four men were arrested in connection with the sites, which had hundreds of thousands of registered users. Those arrested included a 21-year-old man from the eastern German state of Saxony alleged to have been the main administrator of the sites. Two other men, aged 44 and 45, were arrested in northern Germany in recent weeks. German police said a fourth man was arrested in Brazil and investigators are trying to identify the sites’ users. The Interior Minister called the bust “an important strike against the spread of horrific images of sexualized violence against children.”