A 33-year-old Danish man has confessed to running an online paedophile ring, according to prosecutors.

The defendant said on his first day in court that he was the driving force behind the website, where members had to communicate only in Scandinavian languages, prosecutor Pernille Munch said.

Danish police said they had extracted 56,594 images of child pornography and 3,174 videos from the man's computers and hard drives so far, but added the total amount of pornographic material contained on the devices could be much greater.

As well as operating the Scandinavian site, the man, from the eastern island of Bornholm, was allegedly an administrator of The Love Zone, a global paedophile network run by Australian Shannon McCoole, which was used by more than 1,000 paedophiles around the world.

Members of the site had to submit new pornographic posts every week to maintain their membership, The Local reported, and could rise higher in the site hierarchy if they submitted more images, and gain more access to material submitted by other people.

Both sites were hidden in the “dark net”, and could only be accessed through the Tor network, which hides users' IP addresses.

Danish police raided the man’s house in February this year, seizing a desktop computer and hard drives containing several terabytes of encrypted data.

Ten biggest crime spots in England and Wales Show all 10 1 /10 Ten biggest crime spots in England and Wales Ten biggest crime spots in England and Wales 1. Metropolitan Police Getty Images Ten biggest crime spots in England and Wales 2. Greater Manchester Police

Despite having dropped by over 11 per cent since last year, Manchester's police have to deal with an average of 2,1412.7 crimes per month. Robbery has gone down an impressive 15.4 per cent in the last 12 months and violence is also looking better, down 8.5 per cent.



Video: Crime Map launches Getty Images Ten biggest crime spots in England and Wales Getty Images Ten biggest crime spots in England and Wales 4. West Yorkshire Police

The average crime rate per month in West Yorkshire stands at 16506.3 which is more than 10 per cent less than the 18433.7 recorded for last year. Vehicle crime is down nearly 25 per cent and although robbery is more than 5 per cent better than last year an average of 3046 take place each month.



Video: Crime Map launches Getty Images Ten biggest crime spots in England and Wales 5. Thames Valley Police

The average monthly crime rate in the Thames Valley Police area has gone down by about 5 per cent from 17254.7 last year to 16308 this year. Burglaries have gone down by just 1.9 per cent, robbery has gone up by 2.6 per cent and anti-social behaviour has gone up by 3.4 per cent.



Video: Crime Map launches Getty Images Ten biggest crime spots in England and Wales 6. Hampshire Constabulary

More than 12,607 cimes take place on average within the Hampshire/ Southampton area. This is down 7.6 per cent from last year with reductions in the rate of burglary, robbery, vehicle crime, violence and anti-social behaviour although violence and car theft are still the area's worst problems statistically.



Video: Crime Map launches Getty Images Ten biggest crime spots in England and Wales 7. Sussex Police

The crime rate in Sussex has gone up a staggering 29.2 per cent since last year. The monthly average is 12182.7 compared to 9427.7 a year ago. Burglary, violent crime and anti-social behaviour crime rates each rose by more than 30 per cent year on year. Vehicle crime was up by 18 per cent and robbery down on average by 1.7 per cent.



Video: Crime Map launches Getty Images Ten biggest crime spots in England and Wales 8. Avon and Somerset Constabulary

Overall crime in the home of Glastonbury has gone down this year by nearly 6 per cent. The average number of crimes committed per month stands at 11332.3. The area isn't bad for robbery with just 169.7 committed each month. Anti-social behaviour and vehicle crime are the area's worst problems and violence rose by 6.9 per cent since last year.



Video: Crime Map launches Getty Images Ten biggest crime spots in England and Wales 9. South Yorkshire Police

The average crime rate in South Yorkshire has dropped by the most year on year compared to the other worst regions for crime. It's down 14 per cent from 10875.7 crimes per month to 9348. Robbery is down by 25 per cent, while vehicle crime and violence also dropped significantly. Anti-social behaviour rates barely changed, decreasing by less than 1 per cent.



Video: Crime Map launches Getty Images Ten biggest crime spots in England and Wales 10. Lancashire Constabulary

Crime in Lancashire has gone down by 1.4 per cent since last year and currently stands at 9335.7 on average per month. Burglary has gone down by 8.8 per cent but nearly a thousand are committed every month, while violent crime has risen by 8.7 per cent. Statistics for robbery are excellent, just 48 committed each month, a reduction of more than 31 per cent since last year.



Video: Crime Map launches Getty Images

According to Mr Munch, some of the material shared portrays serious sexual acts on children.