President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice announced Tuesday that it took down the alleged ringleaders of “a violent online network that seeks to destroy civilized society through the corruption and exploitation of vulnerable populations, which often include minors.”
The DOJ charged Leonidas Varagiannis, 21, and Prasan Nepal, 20, for operating a child exploitation subgroup within 764, an online transnational extremist network.
‘One of the most heinous online child exploitation enterprises we have ever encountered.’
Varagiannis, a U.S. citizen, was arrested in Greece on Monday. Nepal was nabbed on April 22 in North Carolina.
The defendants are accused of producing and distributing sadistic child sexual abuse material in the subgroup 764 Inferno. The men allegedly groomed, manipulated, and extorted minors into producing sexual and self-harm content.
The DOJ reported, “The affidavit alleges that the group targeted vulnerable children online, coercing them into producing degrading and explicit content under threat and manipulation. This content includes ‘cut signs’ and ‘blood signs’ through which young minors would cut symbols into their bodies.”
It noted that the defendants and their co-conspirators used the violent and sexual content to “create digital ‘Lorebooks,’ which [nihilistic violent extremists] used as digital currency within the 764 network — traded, archived in encrypted ‘vaults,’ and used as a means to recruit new members or maintain status within the network.”
“In multiple instances, the defendants threatened and caused their victims to engage in self-mutilation, online and in-person sexual acts, harm to animals, sexual exploitation of siblings and others, acts of violence, threats of violence, suicide, and murder,” the DOJ stated.
The department identified at least eight minor victims. The youngest victim was 13 years old.
Attorney General Pam Bondi called the case “one of the most heinous online child exploitation enterprises we have ever encountered.”
“We will find those who exploit and abuse children, prosecute them, and dismantle every part of their operation,” she stated.
FBI Director Kash Patel explained that the defendants allegedly recruited and trained other users on how to “exploit children.”
“Let me be very clear about our efforts,” Patel said. “The FBI and our partners are determined to protect juveniles from predators, and we will track down and hold accountable those who engage in these criminal activities. We will continue to work closely with our partners at the Department of Justice to bring justice to the victims of such cruel abuse.”
Varagiannis has reportedly denied the DOJ’s allegations and formally opposed his extradition.
Xanthippi Moysidou, Varagiannis’ lawyer, told the Associated Press, “Throughout the period during which the alleged offenses took place, he was residing in Greece.”
“Therefore, Greek law and courts have jurisdiction over the case, and his extradition is explicitly prohibited,” Moysidou remarked.
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News, Trump administration, Trump admin, Pam bondi, Kash patel, Department of justice, Doj, Fbi, Federal bureau of investigation, 764, Crime, Child sexual abuse material, Csam, Politics
