# Breaking news! 230 children rescued from Netherlands-based online pedophile ring! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 16, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-230-children-rescued-from-netherlands-based-online-pedophile-ring/574927 "2011-03-16T15:34:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-230-children-rescued-from-netherlands-based-online-pedophile-ring/574927/1 "2011-03-16T15:34:07Z")
[AP via Washington Post](http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/police-rescue-230-child-abuse-victims-arrest-more-than-180-suspects-in-international-ring/2011/03/16/ABf6Pvd_story.html) > [@](#): > > Wednesday, March 16, 10:42 AM > > THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Police said Wednesday they have smashed a huge international pedophile ring, rescuing 230 children from abuse and arresting 184 suspects — including teachers and police officers. > > The three-year investigation codenamed Operation Rescue identified and safeguarded children in more than 30 countries by arresting people suspected of abusing them, said Rob Wainwright, director of the European Union police agency Europol. > > The ring was centered on an Amsterdam-based online forum called [boylover.net](http://boylover.net), which Wainwright described as “probably the largest online pedophile network in the world.” > > The heavily encrypted forum, whose administrator appeared in a Dutch court on Tuesday charged with sex offenses, had up to 70,000 members. [MSNBC](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42108748/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/) > [@](#): > > The European police agency [Europol said in a statement that “Operation Rescue”](http://www.europol.europa.eu/index.asp?page=news&news=pr110316.htm) had identified 670 suspects and that 230 abused children in 30 countries had been taken to safety. More children are expected to be found, Europol said. > > The investigation was led by Britain’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center. > > Peter Davies, of the center, said there would be more arrests as the investigations continue. > > “Those who have been members of the site can expect a knock on the door in the very near future,” he said. > > In Britain, police said, the children involved were aged between 7 and 14. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-230-children-rescued-from-netherlands-based-online-pedophile-ring/574927/2 "2011-03-16T15:37:37Z")
:eek: I swear, some people are FUCKED UP. Good on the police. I hope the perps get a not-very-comfortable hole in the ground to spend the rest of their miserable lives in. ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-230-children-rescued-from-netherlands-based-online-pedophile-ring/574927/3 "2011-03-17T11:09:04Z")
actually most of the arrests were in the UK > **[World's biggest child abuse probe nets 180 suspected perverts.. including...](https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/worlds-biggest-child-abuse-probe-1097775)** > > MORE than 180 paedophiles have been arrested in the world's biggest internet child abuse investigation. the website was run from Holland. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-230-children-rescued-from-netherlands-based-online-pedophile-ring/574927/4 "2011-03-17T11:24:54Z")
I wonder what the first clue was that [boylover.net](http://boylover.net) catered for paedophilics… ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-230-children-rescued-from-netherlands-based-online-pedophile-ring/574927/5 "2011-03-17T11:27:22Z")
Indeed. The website was run from the Netherlands, but the child victims live mostly in poor countries with known “sexual tourism”. > [@](#): > > 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](http://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. So, it is a good thing that childporn makers still thougth the Netherlands would allow such a website to exist. The website served as “bait” and allowed Europol to make all those arrests. ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-230-children-rescued-from-netherlands-based-online-pedophile-ring/574927/6 "2011-03-17T11:53:22Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > I wonder what the first clue was that [boylover.net](http://boylover.net) catered for paedophilics… The site had a no picture policy, text only discussions about fantasy and such, but there were secret levels on the website “dungeons” where the nasty stuff could be posted Last year in Amsterdam they arrested Robert M (Mikelsons) a daycare worker who might have abused 81 children, but his boy friend a bus driver called Richard van O (Olffen), also ran a website for the bus company with a secret level for sharing kiddy porn with noncompany employees. ---
**Author:** ![tesseract](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@tesseract](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tesseract)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-230-children-rescued-from-netherlands-based-online-pedophile-ring/574927/7 "2011-03-18T04:46:05Z")
> [@willthekittensurvive](#): > > actually most of the arrests were in the UK > > [World's biggest child abuse probe nets 180 suspected perverts.. including Scots woman - Daily Record](http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/2011/03/17/world-s-biggest-child-abuse-probe-nets-180-suspected-perverts-including-scots-woman-86908-22995500/) > > the website was run from Holland. From the article: “One woman paedophile, who was arrested by Lothian and Borders Police, has since been sectioned.” Hmm, sounds like a fitting punishment. Or does that not mean what I think it means? ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-230-children-rescued-from-netherlands-based-online-pedophile-ring/574927/8 "2011-03-18T05:26:01Z")
In Great Britain ‘sectioned’ means to be placed in the care of mental healthcare professionals, or ‘shoved in the nut-hatch’ as legal jargon prefers.