Six Dutch nationals have been arrested in an international investigation into what the Volkskrant calls the ‘biggest child pornography network in the world’.

The site, with over 360,000 photographs and films, had some 45,000 members worldwide before it was closed down, the paper says. Of them, 303 have been arrested and 106 child victims traced. Most are under the age of 12, the paper says.

The site’s founder, Australian national Shannon McCoole, was jailed for 35 years four months ago, just over a year after his arrest. McCoole was a childcare worker by profession and had abused children in his care, Australian media reported at the time.

The Volkskrant says investigators kept the site going by posing as McCoole in an effort to trace other people behind the operation. That led to Erwin van den B, from Almelo, who is said to be the site’s co-manager, and Auke V from Friesland, who ran a second, smaller site operated by the Australian.

In June, Erwin van den B was sentenced to 18 months in jail. He was not proved to have produced child porn himself, the Volkskrant says. Auke V was jailed in September for five years plus psychiatric prison.

Four other Dutch people have been arrested in connection with the case, the Volkskrant says, and the investigation is continuing.

The victims come from the Netherlands, Australia, Colombia and the UAE, among other countries.

The board was hosted on the part of the internet known as the dark net, which uses encryption software to hide identities and mask people’s browsing history.