Warning: This story contains references to suicide, sexual abuse, violence, graphic material and language that can be overwhelming for certain readers.
Two men were arrested and accused of having managed an international business of children known under the name of 764 which targets vulnerable minors online and the constraints to self -control, to make the child sexual abuse of themselves and to participate in violent acts – including animal violence and even suicide.
Prasan Nepal, 20, who, according to the police, used the nickname “Trippo” in network 764, was arrested in North Carolina. Leonidas Varagiannis, a 21 -year -old American citizen, known as the “war” was arrested in Greece, according to the police.
They would have directed a basic subgroup called 764 Inferno which worked using encrypted messaging platforms. According to the police, the men have exploited at least eight minors, some as young as 13 years old.
“The information contained in the criminal complaint is disgusting,” said an online investigator named Becca who follows 764 and shares what she learns with the police. For its safety, we only use its first name.
CBC The fifth area studied for the first time 764 and its related groups last year, and has since discovered victims worldwide, especially One to Red Deer, Alta.Named Trinity.
Trinity, whose CBC identity agreed to protect for its safety, first pointed out its operating allegations by 764 members at the RCMP in July 2021, but has also heard of last year after the FBI asked to meet it.
During the meeting with the two law enforcement teams in May 2024, she provided the police with a list of names of 764 authors who, according to her, operated it by discord and the telegram.
One of the names on this list was Trippo.
Neither she nor her mother wanted to comment on the arrests saying that they are trying to overcome their test.
- Look at the full documentary, “Take Taping: The Online Terror Network”, from The fifth area on YouTube.
The fifth area also interviewed A Canadian father whose 15 -year -old daughter recently committed suicide after being exploited by other 764 members for at least two years.
The CBC does not name him to protect the identity of his daughter and for her own security. The father says he continues to be harassed by people he suspects is part of the network.
The news of the arrests “give me hope,” he said, adding that awareness, especially for parents and authorities, is essential. He said he missed the first signs of his daughter’s exploitation, including self -control.
“This is the part I hate,” he said, “it was right in front of me and I didn’t recognize it.”
Since its surveys on 764, The fifth area spoke with another parent who says that his teenage daughter was the victim of 764 members for two years. The parent also says that his daughter had contacts with Varagiannis online. CBC did not independently verify this assertion.
She also asked not to be appointed for the privacy and security of her family.
She says that she hopes that arrests will decrease the network access to other victims.
“I also hope that this will send a warning to other members, or potential members, that it is only a matter of time before their violent and predatory actions catch them and that they are forced to deal with the justice of their own.”
Investigate the main alleged leaders
According to an affidavit and a criminal complaint not sealed on Wednesday before the United States district court for the District of Columbia, Nepal had been involved in 764 since its creation in 2020. He became his leader in August 2021 after the founder, Bradley Cadenhead, was arrested by the FBI.
Cadenhead created 764 in 2020 at the age of 15 and appointed the group after its regional code in Stephenville, Texas. He served an 80 -year sentence for pleading guilty of possession with the intention of promoting juvenile pornography in 2023.
Varagiannis would have joined in December 2023 and became a co-leader of 764 Inferno, which was reserved only for the main members of 764 and was by invitation only.
Nepal and Varagiannis had strict rules to reach 764, according to the police. Potential members had to produce and share content that often included sexual abuse equipment and self-free victims.
“These accused are accused of orchestrating one of the operating companies of the most odious children we have ever met,” US prosecutor Pamela Bondi said on Wednesday.
Nepal and Varagiannis, as well as two others, would have created a guide that gave potential members instructions on how to create “content” by targeting vulnerable “electronic girls”, which fought against mental illness.
According to the Affidavit, on May 27, 2024, Nepal published step -by -step instructions in a cat on how to prepare a victim.
“Go to Reddit … or Twitter,” he tapa. “”[Find a] Automutilation community and speak with a girl as she is a normal friend “and” then seduce her with how much you like the way she cuts “.
This content included sexually exploiting equipment and images of minor girls who had been forced to cut the names of the group members in their skin, according to the police.
The members would have compiled these images and videos in what they called “Lore books” which were considered a precious currency within the group, often used to gain notoriety for 764 and to recruit more members.
The expert says that arrests are “mainly significant”
Becca calls for “mainly significant” arrests and says that the two are accused of managing a global criminal network, and not individual accusations of juvenile pornography, testify to the serious threat of the police.
“They work for these guys to be accused of heavier crimes and sorrows.”
Becca says that the arrest of Nepal is particularly important because he was not only the self -proclaimed leader of 764, he was his most active member who created new telegrams and discordant channels to maintain the group when other accounts were prohibited by the platforms on which they operated.
764 has several ramifications, she adds, but during her research, she says that she found that one predator can have dozens, even hundreds of victims.
“The impact is enormous because of all the children who could potentially be saved because of a person who is no longer on the Internet.”
Becca claims that the arrest of Nepal has also caused panic in 764 chat rooms while the authorities continue to repress the network. “This is very good news. We want them to run on the retro-cooking.”
The father who spoke to The fifth area About the victimization of her daughter by 764, said he contacted the police for more than a year before his daughter took his life and said that he was initially rejected by the authorities.
He says he plans to channel his sorrow towards plea and calls on social media platforms to do more to protect children online.
“I’m still in shock on this subject,” he said. “Our institutions are slowly moving against something that evolves very quickly.”
764 posed the threat of climbing violence
The fifth area Apart from several experts and officials of the application of laws who say the police are now more aware of the threat. They say that 764 stands out from its level of violence and the age of its members, many of which are minors.
In Canada, researchers in extremism say that there are probably authors across the country and thousands of potential victims.
The group also constitutes a growing threat worldwide because it forges alliances with other violent online groups which promote mass killings and targeted attacks.
Other violent acts were linked to 764, including a shootout at school earlier this year in Nashville, stabbing last fall in Sweden and the murder of an elderly woman in Romania in 2022.
Police has also foiled fatal plots linked to groups in the United Kingdom and the United States in recent months. In Italy, the police arrested a member last month which, according to them, was in the advanced stages of a plan to kill vulnerable people.
The RRC terrorism fight against 764 investigations in Canada and have issued a National public warning About the group last August. The police here arrested at least two members of 764.
In response to The fifth areaThe request for comments on the latest arrests and if there are Canadian victims linked to the accused, in an email, the RCMP said that it is working closely with its international partners and does not comment on investigations and potential investigations in progress or potential by other countries.
He added: “The safeguarding of Canadians of violent extremism with ideological motivation, like that perpetrated by 764, remains a priority for the RCMP.”
As for Nepal and Varagiannis, if it is found guilty, the accusation of exploitation of an operating company of children carries a minimum sentence of 20 years and a maximum of perpetuity prison.
If you or someone you know about you, here is where to look for help:
If you or someone you know are exploited, you can report it to the Canada National Headline for Children’s online sexual exploitation:
If you think someone is immediate, please call 9-1-1.
