This violent extremist network targets kids online

CBC

21-03-2025

THE FIFTH ESTATE
An Alberta teen was trapped inside a network that the RCMP says is 'unlike anything' its counterterrorism unit has ever seen.
By The Fifth Estate Mar. 21, 2025
WARNING: This story contains references to suicide, sexual abuse, violence, graphic material and language that may be upsetting to some readers.
Maria desperately banged on the door as she pleaded through tears for her 15-year-old daughter Trinity to come out.
'Look what they've done to me,' Trinity said as she finally unlocked the door in their Red Deer, Alta., home, lifting her shirt to reveal the myriad of usernames and symbols, including a swastika, carved into her skin.
'I can't take this anymore.'
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Just moments before, Trinity was livestreaming her attempt to kill herself on a private Discord server while dozens of predators goaded her on.
It was July 11, 2021, and the culmination of months of exploitation by members of a violent extremist group called 764 who prey on vulnerable minors and lure them into their dark and depraved online community.
'We have tried to tell this story and nobody believes it. It's too obscure, it's too obscene,' said Trinity, who is now 19.
For their safety, we are not using Trinity or Maria's last names.
The Fifth Estate has learned despite reporting her exploitation at the hands of 764 to the RCMP in 2021 and providing evidence, including phones and a laptop, no charges have been laid in Trinity's case.
Watch the full documentary, ' Trapped: The Online Terror Network,' from The Fifth Estate on YouTube or on CBC-TV Friday at 9 p.m.
The RCMP acknowledges it is trying to keep up with 764's evolving threat and issued a warning about the group in 2024 — three years after Trinity reported it and nearly a year after the FBI first warned of 764's global threat to children.
'It was difficult to be heard, it was difficult to be believed,' said Maria. 'It was a pretty traumatic experience, not only for her, but as her mom, to watch her deteriorate to nothing while begging for help.'
Maria and Trinity shared their story publicly for the first time with The Fifth Estate. It's been painful for them but they said they wanted to as both a cautionary tale and to try to help other victims and families come forward and find a sense of justice that still eludes them.
The RCMP have acknowledged to The Fifth Estate that initially law enforcement didn't know what it was dealing with.
'It's something that internationally, both police and our intelligence security partners are still trying to wrap our heads around,' said Insp. Matt Johnson, who is with the RCMP's counterterrorism unit, known as Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET), in Edmonton.
'It's unlike anything we've seen before.'
I. How 764 lures its victims
764 deliberately targets vulnerable children by prowling on popular gaming sites like Minecraft and Roblox, where members lure them into private online chats on Discord and Telegram.
Often, these spaces are disguised as safe places for minors with eating disorders or poor self-esteem.
Experts say the grooming includes lavishing victims with attention and exposing them to violent content to desensitize them. Victims are then coerced into sending sexually explicit images and to self-harm, including carving their predator's names into their skin as a sign of devotion.
Members of 764 threaten to share the images with family and friends to get their victims to do even worse, like hurting their pets, harming others and even killing themselves, all in an effort to exert control for their own gratification.
The FBI first warned the public about 764 in September 2023 amid a series of arrests, including Bradley Cadenhead, a 15-year-old from Texas who founded the group in 2020 and named it after his zip code. Cadenhead is serving an 80-year sentence in 2023 for pleading guilty to possession with intent to promote child pornography.
'The most horrendous part about it is it is minors doing this to minors,' said Marc-André Argentino, a senior researcher at Public Safety Canada specializing in extremism movements.
'We're talking about 13-year-olds targeting 16-year-olds, 16-year-olds sextorting 11-year-olds, 12-year-olds.'
In February 2024, police in Lethbridge, Alta., identified Canada's first case involving a 764 member when a 14-year-old boy was charged with a series of offences, including making and distributing child pornography.
Argentino said law enforcement have located cases in at least 23 countries, and he estimates there are likely both perpetrators and victims in every province in Canada.
'There's no activism,' said Argentino, who writes a blog that helps law enforcement understand what they're up against. Despite drawing inspiration from satanic neo-Nazi movements, he said 764 and its related groups' shared motivation is to destroy society.
'They're not even worried about the disappearance of the white race. This is actually an interracial community. They just want to be the most violent, the most misanthropic type of individual they can be.'
WATCH | Victimizing minors for clout:
Argentino says they're doing it for bragging rights and to gain status in the network.
The Fifth Estate obtained a 'lore book' created by a handful of members of a group within the 764 network called Harm Nation. Predators show off images of multiple victims whom they have forced to carve their usernames into their bodies and harm their pets, often on livestreams.
'It's soul-crushing to go into these spaces,' said Argentino, who has seen even worse 764 content. 'Some of these individuals, they're targeting dozens of victims on a daily basis.'
If you or someone you know has been exploited by 764 and you have information you'd like to share, please email [e-mail] and [e-mail].
II. How Trinity fell prey to 764
Looking back, Trinity says she was a perfect target for 764.
She told The Fifth Estate she was sexually abused for years by a family member, and by age 12 it led her to self-harm. Trinity said she also struggled with substance abuse and attempted suicide multiple times.
The abuse also left her, she said, with a distorted view of male affection.
'I still needed that male validation in a terrible way,' Trinity said. 'It's really sick and twisted.'
One day, Trinity said, during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, a friend showed her some gore videos, which often include graphic violence and blood. She asked him to invite her to the server on Discord. Once there, she met a 764 member who invited her to a 764 Telegram channel, where she saw young female victims cutting themselves and attempting suicide.
She was horrified, but she was also bombarded with the attention she craved.
'They figured out how easy I am to manipulate,' Trinity said, and would 'call me sweet names like 'little princess' and make me feel like I was genuinely adored.'
Trinity said the manipulation deepened and within weeks she was being exploited by more than a dozen predators who forced her to share sexually explicit images and to cut herself.
Trinity said if she resisted any demands, 764 members threatened to share the images with her school, her friends and family.
'It was terrible blackmail,' she said. 'I was terrified.'
Trinity tried to hide what was going on from Maria, but her behaviour had become erratic. Maria took Trinity's phone away and was shocked to find sexually exploitative and self-harm images of Trinity.
WATCH | The fears a mother had for her daughter:
Desperate for help, Maria said she called Alberta's Children and Family Services, a provincial welfare agency that offers support services to children and youth. While social workers offered some guidance, Maria wanted them to put Trinity in a treatment facility, but they all had waitlists.
When Trinity tried to run away because Maria turned off the Wi-Fi or took away her phone, she called the RCMP, which is the municipal police force in Red Deer.
Maria said she told police she feared her daughter was being exploited by an online cult.
She said officers offered to look out for Trinity while on patrol, but beyond that, Maria said, 'I still very much felt that I was unheard.'
III. Trinity meets her worst tormentor yet
During this time, Trinity met a 764 member who went by Mk Ultra, who became her worst tormentor yet, she said.
As the online relationship developed, Trinity wrote about his hold over her in her diary. She said he forced her to carve his username on her torso. She wrote him a letter of devotion splattered with her blood, and signed it 'Alexis.' It was the pseudonym 764 had given her early on.
Trinity said Mk Ultra's demands only got darker, to the point he wanted her to sacrifice her dogs and even kill her own mother.
'And then he was supposed to come and we were supposed to go on a literal killing spree where he would abduct females, rape young females … and then kill them,' Trinity said.
'He turned me into someone I could never ever think of being.'
Maria said she had seen some of the text messages and lived in fear for months.
'I would sleep with a kitchen knife under my pillow.'
IV. Trinity tells police about 764
It was one of the darkest points before Trinity's suicide attempt in July 2021.
When she was admitted to hospital, doctors were so alarmed by the cuts on Trinity's body they called the police.
'I told them everything,' Trinity said. 'They had a female officer take photos of my body. I was covered head to toe in names, symbols. I had a swastika right in the middle of my chest.'
Trinity was placed in protective care for about a month. The court order obtained by The Fifth Estate notes that she was dragged into a 'cult community called '764'' and that the RCMP was 'concerned that without proper intervention there was potential for Trinity to be harmed and the pattern to continue.'
Officers also took two phones and a laptop to Calgary for analysis by the RCMP's Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit, which specializes in retrieving electronic evidence.
'I wanted them to find all of the cutting pictures,' said Maria. 'I'll never forget them. They're imprinted and burned in my brain for the rest of my life.'
But a few weeks after police took the electronics, Maria said, investigators called to say the Apple ID passwords provided were incorrect. Maria and Trinity say they couldn't remember the right ones because 764 would force Trinity to constantly change passwords and emails to evade detection.
'I was flabbergasted, like you guys specialize in this,' said Maria. 'There's no way that you couldn't break into a child's phone.'
Investigators held onto the devices for a few more months, but in February 2022, police returned them. Maria said they told her they couldn't find any evidence without the passwords.
'The evidence of her body should have been evidence enough.' Maria said. 'Her statement should have been evidence enough.'
Maria threw out the phones and laptop and attempted to move on.
V. American detective connects dots in Trinity's case
Three years passed before Maria heard from law enforcement about 764. But this time, it was a police officer thousands of kilometres away in North Carolina.
Det. Abraham Basco, who investigates internet crimes against children with the police department in Winston-Salem, N.C., had learned that she was the mother of a victim of 764 and wanted to speak to her about it.
He had arrested an 18-year-old man named Kierre Cutler in a 764 case, but had never spoken to a victim of 764 or their family.
Cutler had been sentenced to seven years in prison after he pleaded guilty to one count of distributing child pornography for sharing an image on Discord.
In his 16-year career in the police department, Basco said nothing prepared him for what he saw on Cutler's phone.
'The only word I could come up with was, it was just absolutely evil.'
Basco said Cutler had created his own 764 splinter group and was manipulating hundreds of minors online. He had more than 700 images of child sexual abuse material on his phone.
During a police interview after the arrest, Basco said he asked why he did it, and Cutler told him: 'I don't know. I like the blood.'
Basco also found an image of a letter on Kierre Cutler's phone with blood droplets on it, addressed to 'MK' and signed by someone named Alexis, but he didn't know who she was.
During their phone call, he mentioned to Maria he'd been looking for someone named Alexis.
'And my mom said: '[764] named her Alexis' and he was like: 'Oh my God,'' said Trinity.
Basco had just discovered Trinity had been exploited by the man he had put behind bars. Kierre Cutler was MKUltra.
Basco said he was able to confirm that some of the photos he saw on Cutler's phone were of Trinity.
'That's a scary thought, especially as a parent,' he said. 'That your kid could be 1,000 miles away from a suspect or from a victimizer. And yet they have such… a hold.'
When asked to respond to an email about Trinity's case, his lawyer said Cutler declined to comment.
Cutler wasn't charged in relation to Trinity'exploitation, but Basco said he wanted her to know the police believed her and felt she deserved to be spoken to in person. He arranged for the FBI from North Carolina to travel to Red Deer last May.
The RCMP was notified of the visit and joined the FBI at the Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre in Red Deer, where the interview took place. A female RCMP officer led the interview.
It was the first time Maria says the Mounties spoke to them about 764 since Trinity's suicide attempt three years before.
'I feel like: 'Wow, you dropped the ball,'' said Maria. 'When somebody comes to you with such a far-fetched story, not only that, but cuts all over a child's body and pictures, maybe you should have believed us.'
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While it was hard to revisit her abuse, Trinity said she also felt she was reclaiming her power.
She gave police a list of usernames of members she said exploited her. Among them was 764 founder Bradley Cadenhead, known as Felix online. Others on the list are likely still at large.
When the interview was over, Maria said the RCMP officers asked her if she had any questions.
'I had to ask them: 'Where the f–k were you? Where were you?'' Maria said. ''Where were you when I needed you?''
Trinity said the officers 'started stammering and didn't know how to answer that question."
VI. Police consider 764 a terror threat
Since Trinity reported her exploitation to police in 2021, 764 has only become more dangerous.
Argentino's research has found recent alliances between 764 and other online extremist groups like No Lives Matter (NLM) and Maniac Murder Cult (MKY or MKU). Both promote targeted attacks and mass killings and circulate so-called 'kill guides' online.
The Fifth Estate has found those new alliances are linked to a school shooting in Nashville this past January where a 16-year-old student was killed.
Argentino said other attacks include several stabbings in Sweden last fall and the killing of an elderly woman in Romania in 2022. Police have also foiled deadly plots tied to the groups in the U.K. and the United States in recent months. In Italy, police arrested a member last month who they say was in the advanced stages of a plan to kill vulnerable people.
Late last year, Winnipeg police investigated more than two dozen instances of antisemitic graffiti in the Charleswood area, many that included MKY tags. A 19-year-old man was charged with 26 counts of mischief in January.
On Monday, RCMP's national security enforcement section charged him with terror-related offences, including participating in an activity related to a terrorism group.
The RCMP told The Fifth Estate 764 is now classified as a terror threat and that it is investigating a number of 764 cases across the country, but would not offer more details.
'We know there are active threat actors in our global environment, including in Canada, that are actively engaging in violent acts on children and encouraging them to commit terrorist attacks.' said Insp. Matt Johnson with INSET, 'so it is a threat.'
Johnson acknowledges police are still trying to understand the threat they're facing, and it's why cases may be missed when they are first reported.
'You're telling me that these people are trafficking child sexual abuse material, adhere to neo-Nazi satanic cult principles and also engage in terrorism? How strange does that sound? How otherworldly does that sound? '
VII. Looking for accountability
Since meeting with the FBI last May, Maria has tried to get a copy of Trinity's police file but was told the case is still active and could not be shared.
The Fifth Estate asked Insp. Johnson from the RCMP about Trinity. He said he could not comment on the specifics of any case and acknowledged police may not have known enough about 764 at the time of her victimization.
'This was something that we didn't really have on our radar in 2021 as far as 764 investigation. So I know that's something that potentially could have played a factor in it.'
WATCH | Police weren't focusing on 764:
But as our investigation uncovered, the RCMP in Red Deer did know about 764 in 2021. Officers had taken photos of the cuts on Trinity's body and had interviewed her at the hospital.
The Fifth Estate also asked Red Deer RCMP to explain why its internet child exploitation unit couldn't break into the electronics the family submitted to police.
In emails, it repeated to The Fifth Estate that the family provided incorrect passwords and that despite using other investigational techniques, police were still unable to access one of the phones and that it could take years to crack it.
Police said they were able to get into the laptop but would not answer our questions about whether they found any evidence on it or if they were able to access the other phone, saying they couldn't discuss the case further because Trinity was a minor at the time.
VIII. Dealing with a 'new threat'
Earlier this month, the FBI published a second public safety alert, warning of a 'sharp increase' in activity among 764 and its related groups.
In fact, just last week, yet another 764 perpetrator was handed a seven-year sentence for possessing child sexual abuse material.
According to the FBI, the 19-year-old Tampa, Fla., man had more than 8,000 images videos saved on his devices, and had carefully organized folders on a thumb drive, including a 'trophies' folder that contained images of girls who had written or carved his 764 name or variations of it on their bodies.
As police crack down, another glaring question is how to deal with the offenders, many of whom are minors themselves.
'I don't feel that we should be giving up on children because this is what they are at such an early age,' said Argentino. 'You can't tell me that an 11-year-old who's involved in this space is already forsaken.'
Some, like 764's founder, are serving long prison sentences, but Argentino believes rehabilitation should be the focus.
Peter Smyth, a social worker with Edmonton's Organization for the Prevention of Violence (OPV), is grappling with what that looks like.
OPV works to reintegrate extremists into society and is the first group like it in Canada working with 764 members. Both cases it has taken on involve minors who were referred by the courts on the recommendation of RCMP's counterterrorism unit.
Smyth said he and his team are still in the reactive phase and are trying to figure out how to establish trust with those minors.
'People would look at what's going on and the harm that is being caused, the children perpetrating on children, and think, well, they must be sociopaths,' said Smyth, adding that in his work with hundreds of youth, he's rarely seen a case that ends up with that conclusion.
More often, he said, perpetrators have their own history of abuse and learn to detach from the violence they inflict on others.
"That's why we look at more of this as dissociation,' said Smyth. 'In another setting, with the right support and help, could they demonstrate compassion and empathy?'
He said it's unclear what their capacity is to do further harm, 'but without any intervention, there is reason to believe that they'll continue to do this or become more entrenched in this way of thinking.'
IX. Raising awareness for parents and police
Matt Richardson, an internet safety expert who has been tracking 764, says parents should look for indicators outlined in police releases that include 'drastic changes in personal demeanour and styles, increased time online, or increased secrecy of online activity.'
Richardson, who is head of intelligence for the Canadian Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) Centre, said other signs may include; wearing long sleeve clothing on warm days to hide evidence of self harm and household pets that begin acting uncharacteristically anxious around children or teens.
'More than ever we as caring adults need to be present and engaged in our children's lives and be prepared to act swiftly,' Richardson said.
The RCMP issued a national advisory last summer about the danger of 764 and related groups, three years after Trinity was first interviewed by police.
In the fall, the Mounties launched a national strategy to raise awareness among front-line officers and the public, including schools and families, according to Johnson.
'Parents need to be aware,' said Johnson. ' And not just parents — adults that have a significant part of a child's life be their guardian, a teacher, counsellor, a coach. They have to be aware of potential signs and indicators.'
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Maria said she's relieved that RCMP have made 764 a priority, especially given the group's increasing fixation with public acts of violence.
'I am glad that they're listening now because the way Trinity was involved then, if they were convincing kids to do mass shooting, my kid would have done that,' said Maria.
'And that is terrifying to think [about].'
It's too late for a Canadian father whom The Fifth Estate interviewed last February for our first investigation into 764. For his safety, we are not revealing his name or where he lives.
WATCH | How hate groups target kids on social media platforms:
He told police that his teenage daughter was being exploited by 764 for months. He said he felt his concerns were overlooked, even as the exploitation continued.
A few weeks ago, that father reached out to The Fifth Estate to let us know his daughter recently killed herself.
It was devastating news for Trinity and her mother, who had been in touch with him. In what they feel is an absence of police attention, families dealing with 764 have formed their own informal networks of support.
X. A measure of closure
Last December, a few weeks after The Fifth Estate interviewed the RCMP, an officer from the INSET detachment in Edmonton reached out to Maria.
In a meeting the following month, Maria said he told her he was not there to apologize but to answer any questions she had about Trinity's file.
'I really wanted to know if I did everything that I could to fight for her during that time,' said Maria.
'They did say, 'I did see the files, I did hear the calls. And as a parent, I wouldn't have done anything any different than you did.''
The officer also offered to help take down any images of Trinity that might still be online and asked them both to consider speaking about their ordeal to help raise awareness.
Trinity has been through treatment to deal with her past substance abuse and is seeing a therapist who she says is helping her move forward.
'I want my complete focus to be on stability,' said Trinity. 'I have gone through so much, so much. I really need to settle down and find my common ground and live my best life.'
Warning signs to look out for
The FBI recommends that individuals keep an eye out for the following potential indicators and warning signs:
Sudden behavior changes such as becoming withdrawn, moody, or irritable.
Sudden changes in appearance, especially neglect of appearance.
Changes in eating or sleeping habits.
Dropping out of activities and becoming more isolated and withdrawn.
A new online "friend" or network prospective victims seem infatuated with and/or scared of.
Receipt of anonymous gifts, such as items delivered to your home, currency, gaming currency or other virtual items.
Scars, often in patterns.
Fresh cuts, scratches, bruises, bite marks, burns, or other wounds.
Carvings, such as words or symbols, on the skin.
Wearing long sleeves or pants in hot weather.
Writing in blood or what appears to be blood.
Threatening to commit suicide and openly talking about death, not being wanted or needed, or not being around.
Idealization of mass shooting or mass casualty events.
Family pets or other animals being harmed or dying under suspicious circumstances.
Family pets uncharacteristically avoid or are fearful of your child or you.
Law enforcement being called to the home under false pretenses (known as swatted or doxxed) by an unknown person.
If you or someone you know is struggling, here's where to look for help:
Canada's Suicide Crisis Helpline: Call or text 988.
Canadian Mental Health Association's crisis line: 1-833-456-4566. In Quebec: 1-866-277-3553. You can also text 45645.
Kids Help Phone: [phone]. Text 686868. Live chat counselling on the website.
Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention: Find a 24-hour crisis centre.
This guide from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health outlines how to talk about suicide with someone you're worried about.
If you or someone you know is being exploited, you can report it to Canada's national tipline for online sexual exploitation of children:
cybertip.ca or call 1-866-658-9022
If you believe someone is in immediate danger, please call 9-1-1.
Top image: CBC
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