The FBI has launched a probe into the violent online network known as “764,” with the bureau investigating more than 350 subjects, Fox News has learned.
The FBI described 764 in a statement as being a “loosely organized” online network that coerces minors and other vulnerable individuals into acts of violence, self-harm and sexual exploitation.
“The FBI remains concerned about these loose networks of violent predators who befriend minors and other vulnerable individuals through popular online platforms and then coerce them into escalating sexual and violent behavior – pushing victims to create graphic content, child sexual abuse material (CSAM), harm family pets, cut themselves with sharp objects or attempt suicide. Some of these predators even watch livestreamed self-harm and other violent content,” the bureau said in a statement provided to Fox News.
As part of the FBI’s effort to counter the violent online network, the bureau is providing training to personnel in all of its field offices. Additionally, the bureau said that it is working with law enforcement partners at home and abroad to identify the alleged perpetrators and “hold them accountable.”
DOJ BUSTS ‘GREGGY’S CULT’ CHILD EXPLOITATION NETWORK THAT ALLEGEDLY COERCED KIDS INTO SELF-HARM
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. announced in April that two alleged leaders of 764 were arrested and charged. Leonidas Varagiannis, also known as “War,” a U.S. citizen residing in Greece, and Prasan Nepal, also known as “Trippy,” of North Carolina, were charged for allegedly operating an international child exploitation enterprise. The two face life sentences if convicted.
“These defendants are accused of orchestrating one of the most heinous online child exploitation enterprises we have ever encountered – a network built on terror, abuse, and the deliberate targeting of children,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement announcing Varagiannis and Nepal’s arrests. “We will find those who exploit and abuse children, prosecute them, and dismantle every part of their operation.”
In August, the FBI’s Los Angeles field office announced the arrest of a suspected 764 member.
The suspect, 27-year-old Dong Hwan Kim, was accused by several minor females of coercing them into sending him videos and photos of themselves engaging in sexual acts, according to FBI Los Angeles. After enticing the underage girls into making child sexual abuse material (CSAM), Kim would allegedly demand they send more explicit content and threaten to send naked photographs to the victims’ family and others or post them online.
The FBI Los Angeles field office noted that in a search, agents found several CSAM videos and photos in the suspect’s possession, as well as evidence that he shared the content with others. Kim was charged with possession of child pornography and faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
On Dec. 9, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ranking Member Dick Durbin, D-Ill., introduced three bills targeting sentencing laws, violent online criminal networks and child sextortion.
One of the bills, known as the Ending Coercion of Children and Harm Online Act (ECCHO Act), would create a “penalty of up to life in prison if the offense involves the actual or attempted suicide by the victim or the death of another person, as well as a 30-year maximum penalty for harmful conduct that does not involve a death,” according to a statement from Grassley’s office.
In addition to the ECCHO Act, the senators also introduced the Sentencing Accountability for Exploitation Act (SAFE Act) and the Stop Sextortion Act. The SAFE Act aims to change sentencing guidelines for CSAM so it “accounts for modern indicators of especially dangerous conduct.” The Stop Sextortion Act would target offenders who “threaten to distribute CSAM to intimidate, extort or coerce children.” Under the bill, the maximum penalty for these offenses would be increased from five to 10 years.
