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Operation Grassscul: The US Justice Department closes child abuse sites; There were 120,000 users and millions of files

American federal officials have taken down a large -scale dark web network trading child sexual abuse material, which the Department of Justice has described as one of its kind “most successful” operations.The move resulted in at least 18 persons sentenced across the United States.At the center of the investigation, the man, William Speyerman, known online as “boss”, was arrested in November 2022 during a high -risk raid at his home in Madison, Alabama. The search warrant for his arrest was considered so important that it received direct approval from the Director of FBI. The agents violated their home using strategic explosives, and despite the spiyarman fighting back, with three handguns within the hand, they were subdued and arrested.His capture marked a significant moment in Operation Grassscul, a year -long investigation, with four of the heaviest smuggled child exploitation websites on the dark web. The FBI said that the platform was responsible for hosting and distribution of hundreds of thousands of sexual exploitative images of children, with a million files, including more than 120,000 members and recording 100,000 trips on the same day.Matthew Geloti, head of the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice, said, “It is one of the most successful ever.” “We destroyed four websites that have not been revived.”Speerman convicted a year after his arrest and since then it has been sentenced to life imprisonment. Prosecutors described him as one of the “most important” distributors of child sexual abuse material globally. A punishment memo said that the trowers refused to surrender peacefully to reduce evidence on their equipment. Memo quoted by CBS News said, “The equipment on their desk included huge amounts of evidence, proving that he was the lead administrator of the website A.”“Unexpectedly, the devices of the defendant also had a huge collection of images and videos reflecting the rape and misuse of children.”The investigation began in 2020 after the officials saw a dangerous increase in traffic on a suspected dark web child abuse site. The discovery quickly led to a comprehensive international operation, revealing deep and technically advanced networks.“These are people who have more technical understanding,” Geloti said. “In this case, as defendants, as they can be, as tragic, somewhat sophisticated,” keeping in mind the use of encryption and other growth tools.The convicts were Selvin Rosenstein, who was sentenced to 28 years in jail in 2022. His platform, prosecutors said, “There was not only a website; it was a large, active community and (abused material) enthusiast of pedophiles. And it was present in the part due to the criminal acts of the defendant.” Rosenstein stored so many illegal images that they needed to place something on the server bound by the operation of their business.Another prominent person, Rale, Matthew Garel of North Carolina was imprisoned for 20 years. The prosecutors revealed that Garel had created a “highly complex and technically refined conspiracy”, which included instructions to grooming a detailed child with a hunter’s “handbook”.Members of these dark web communities were often required to help with site moderation to contribute, pay membership fee, or obtain access. The FBI Deputy Assistant Director said, “They were part of an online community of hundreds of thousands with leadership roles, rules and a general dedicated purpose.”He said, “Some people must have imagined how (child abuse material) will allow the Internet, the way it is today,” he said.The FBI has confirmed that the same leadership team has operated several closed sites. “The Leadership team also operated several other people operating a site,” said Abbigel Becksio, a prominent of the FBI unit.Operation Grancul expanded nationwide, in which Virginia, Maryland, Indiana, Texas, Washington, Arkansas, Michigan and Oklahoma were convicted. The Department of Justice online is preparing Tekdown as a major victory in the ongoing fight against the exploitation of the child.“Even for prosecutors, it is difficult to understand how wide it is,” Geloti said. “Because it happens on the dark web, people are not aware of it. It is extremely disturbing.”

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