October 21, 2019. A 42-year-old father of a family from Bergisch-Gladbach returns from vacation. The police are already waiting for him, take his cell phone away, and search the apartment. What initially sounds unspectacular is the beginning of one of the largest criminal cases in the history of the Federal Republic, of investigations on an unprecedented scale. It concerns the rape of children and the exchange of corresponding images and videos. The police come across seven terabytes of data with child pornography in the father of the family's house. Chats from which it becomes clear that men have abused their own children and exchanged them with each other. It quickly becomes clear: the suspect from Bergisch-Gladbach is part of an international network of pedophiles that is now being unmasked bit by bit. This is the birth of the BAO Berg - a special commission that has never existed on this scale before. "BAO" means "special organisation" - "Berg" stands for Bergisch Gladbach, but it could also stand for the mass of data that the investigators came across: seven terabytes for the man from Bergisch Gladbach alone - printed out, it is 50 file folders full of chat logs. But that was only the beginning. At times, 330 police officers are working on the case. "We are proceeding as if it were a terrorist situation," says Michael Esser, chief criminal director of the BAO Berg. The officers identify over 400 suspects in painstaking detail - all men. They come from all walks of life - from Hartz IV recipients to lawyers, minors as well as pensioners. "You can't tell by looking at people, it could be their neighbour," says one of the investigators. A team from WDR-story has been following the work of the police officers of the BAO Berg for two years. They follow how the officers track down the suspects. "Anyone who sees this only wants one thing: to free the children," says one of the evaluators, who has to watch children being tortured on her computer every day, always looking for a clue to the perpetrator. Her colleague turns off the sound: "The sound is worse than the picture." ???? If you liked this video, give us a like! ______ ???? A film for The Story by Marion Försching, Torsten Reschke and Marko Rösseler This film was produced in 2022. All statements and facts correspond to the status at the time and have not been updated since then. ______ ???? More documentaries in the ARD Mediathek: http://www.wdr.de/k/doku_mediathek More documentaries on the topic: ???? The hunt for cocaine: criminal gangs in Germany - • The hunt for cocaine: criminal ... ???? Criminal clans and their million-dollar businesses - • Criminal clans and their million-dollar businesses ... ???? Large Arab families in the police's sights - • Large Arab families in the police's sights ... ???? Police violence and racism - who controls the police? - • Police violence and racism - who con... ???? How should society deal with pedophiles? Among pedophiles. RABIAT! - • How should society deal with pedophiles... ???? How do we deal with pedophiles? How does sexuality determine my life? Episode 3 - • How do we deal with paedophiles... ???? Young & paedophile - Don't become a perpetrator?! - • Young & paedophile - Don't become a perpetrator?! ______ #Paedophiles #Police #WDRDoku