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Scottish Sun
02-05-2025
- Scottish Sun
Horrifying Satanic paedo ring ‘764' groom girls as young as 11 into sex abuse & suicide…as sickos' vile boasts revealed
"GET them young and they're yours forever" - these are the chilling words from a twisted playbook to help Satan-obsessed paedophile abusers blackmail young girls online. Blending sickening neo-Nazi ideology and harrowing sexual extortion, terror cult 764 is among a worrying new breed of evil online abusers. 8 Richard Ehiemere had Category A child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on his phone - the worst kind Credit: NCA 8 The group share posts related to Satan, neo-Nazi ideology and child sex abuse images Credit: PA 8 British 764 member Cameron Finnigan, 19, tried to get a girl to end her life on webcam Credit: PA Targeting girls as young as nine, they blackmail kids into stripping, performing degrading sex acts, self-harming, attempting suicide and committing violence against animals and the public. At least four arrests have been made in the UK and according to the National Crime Agency (NCA), incidents have increased six-fold in the last two years and the membership is in the hundreds. Among them was Londoner Richard Ehiemere, 21, who was collared with 29 indecent images of children (IIOC) including 10 Category A - the most severe - on his phone. Under the alias 'Retaliate#1337' and then 17, his chilling boasts in online forums included sexual taunts to an 11-year-old girl. This week, Ehiemere was sentenced to 12 months, suspended for 18months, and given a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order for two counts of fraud - regarding data, password and username leaks - and three charges related to the horrifying photos. An NCA cybercrime investigator tells us: 'In online groups, Ehiemere spoke about having 'e-girls' and would say things like, 'I own you from now on'. 'In one group chat, a young girl, who was invited to join, asked, 'I'm 11, is that OK?' and he replied, 'OK, you're my little c** sl**'. 'CVLT (764) is very focused on sexual exploitation, grooming and dominating young girls. Their main thing is to get them to take their clothes off on camera and do whatever the group asks. 'That could be self-harm or sadistic sex acts, these girls are mostly 15 or 16, and on a few occasions, non-UK members have claimed they made girls attempt suicide on camera. 'They seek out vulnerable girls on mental health boards. The leader of the group advised looking out for victims with personality and eating disorders.' Mum's fury after paedo who lured her son, 6, into woods 'LET OFF with softer sentence' Worryingly, the NCA - who are UK's answer to the FBI - tell us young female victims are groomed to the point that they 'end up becoming perpetrators themselves'. They say: 'Just like you'd see with sex rings where girls are forced into it and then they get other girls into it too. The same thing is happening online.' 'Terror week' plot At least five British teens have been arrested for crimes related to 764 - including Cameron Finnigan, 19, known as 'ACID' online, who encouraged a young Italian to livestream herself ending her life. When asked about this sickening act in a police interview, he replied: 'The only risk I was concerned about is, if she went through with it and I got caught'. Cops also found an 11-page PDF document detailing how to carry out a 'mass casualty' attack against the public and that he plotted a 'terror week' with other members. Finnigan also planned to murder a homeless man living in a tent near his home and vowed online: 'I won't stop until he's dead.' That could be self-harm or sadistic sex acts, these girls are mostly 15 or 16, and on a few occasions, non-UK members have claimed they made girls attempt suicide on camera NCA cybercrime investigator Police also found six Category A child sex abuse images and a video on his computer - something Rob Richardson, head of the NCA's fight against the group, tells us is all too common with 764 members. He says: 'From what we understand, this group's motivation isn't necessarily around having a sexual interest in children or finance. Their motivation is notoriety and credibility online. 'The way they build that is by sharing child sex abuse material (CSAM), coercing vulnerable people to abuse themselves and others, or by shocking their peers. 'The occult (Satanism) is one method of that, another is sharing extreme right-wing ideology but what worries us more is extreme misogyny and what type of men will be made from this. 'The influence of the manosphere is breeding an entire community of misogynistic young men and we are very worried about what will happen in five or six years time.' 'X-Rated paedo hellscape' The group - set up in 2021 - was named after the Texas postcode of teen founder Bradley Cadenhead who is serving an 80-year sentence on charges of child pornography. 8 Finnigan planned a knife and firearm massacre Credit: PA 8 He shared photos of the tent of a homeless man, who he plotted to murder Credit: PA They find vulnerable teenage girls on communication apps and specifically hunt down youngsters with eating disorders and mental health issues. In the chilling 101 page "sexploitation playbook" recently seen by the Observer, they advised members how to target young victims online - headed with the quote: "Get them young, and they're yours forever." But in their bid to find younger victims, they have also taken to the infiltrating online games like Roblox, as The Sun discovered. Worryingly, just under half of UK gamers aged four to 18 play Roblox - making it the most popular title for minors - and a dream hunting ground for abusers. Last year, a damning report from Hindenburg Research accused Roblox of prioritising profits over child safety and branded the game 'an X-rated paedophile hellscape'. '[It was] replete with users attempting to groom our avatars, groups openly trading child pornography, widely accessible sex games, violent content and extremely abusive speech - all of which is open to young children,' the report claimed. Roblox has introduced 30 safety updates limiting how kids under 13 communicate and banning under-nines from 'moderate' content. Roblox consistently fails to remove communities trading child abuse material from its platform. Online paedophile hunter RealSchlep Despite this, The Sun has been made aware of a boy, aged 10, who was forced to strip on camera, carve a chunk of skin out of his thigh and livestream himself throwing up. In another case, a 12-year-old girl was forced to carve the name of her abuser into her skin and was hounded for hours in an attempt to convince her to kill her mother, until she broke down in tears and tried to overdose on medication. We also found T-shirts Roblox users could buy for their characters linked to the terror group, including one with the slogan: "He harm on my nation until I 764." Others featured '764' in the design, made reference to harming animals, sexual activity with children and bestiality. Some depicted self-harm wounds too. 'Catfished, lovebombed & sextorted' The predators will use the chat function in Roblox or find an online forum that talks about self-harm or bipolar disorder to find vulnerable children, who they call 'submits'. They will then persuade them to join a free online communication app, which is where the full extent of the grooming begins. Here they will catfish and lovebomb their victims, using fake photos and excessive displays of affection, to masquerade as the perfect romantic partner. 8 The founder of the 764 terror group Bradley Cadenhead Credit: IMDB 8 One user linked to 764 sold Roblox T-shirts featuring self-harm cuts and encouraging animal abuse Credit: Supplied 8 The Roblox in-game chat references twisted sexual fantasies, 764 and the age of a young gamer Credit: RealSchlep Once they have fully gained their trust they ask for sexually explicit photos or videos, which is when the truly sadistic stuff begins. The abuser will 'sextort' them by threatening to send the explicit photos to the victim's school or parents. Or they will threaten to 'swat' them by getting armed police officers to storm their address after making a hoax call or 'dox' them by publishing their private information online. Scared and vulnerable, these children are pressured into performing degrading acts on camera for their abusers, which will then be circulated amongst 764 members. A relative of one of the victims, who asked to remain anonymous, urged parents to monitor what their children do online. She said: 'If you must let your children play Roblox make sure you disable the in-game chat. You may think they're safe and only talking to other children but these children are often the ones grooming them'. 'Predators' paradise' YouTube paedophile hunter Michael, 21, from Georgia, US, who runs the channel RealSchlep, has drew in millions of viewers to his online stings on Roblox. He tells us: "Roblox consistently fails to remove communities trading child abuse material from its platform. 'Sadistic groups fuled by melting pot of violence & extreme ideology' As for what turns young men to commit such vile acts, Dr Simon Duff, of the Centre of Forensic & Family Psychology at the University of Nottingham, gave his verdict. He told the Sun: 'For some people it might be through experiences where they have learned that certain tactics achieve goals. 'For example, if a child has been exposed to circumstances where they see that getting control of someone leads to positive outcomes they might learn to try to control others. 'It is possible that these behaviours develop from a child's experiences of trauma, which can impact how they understand and interact with the world. 'We also have to consider that some of it will be opportunistic, that someone sees an opportunity and takes advantage of it.' Andy Burrows, Chief Executive of Molly Rose Foundation added: "It is sickening that children are being groomed into such incredibly distressing and disturbing acts online by sadistic groups fuelled by a melting pot of violent and extreme ideologies. "The urgency and depravity of these risks requires the Prime Minister to act. After multiple warnings by global law enforcement about these groups we need stronger online safety laws to keep our children safe." "I publicly called out one of these groups in response to the CEO of Roblox and my post got more likes than his. "The chances someone at Roblox saw it? Extremely high. And yet, the group is still up." With the Online Safety Act 2023 coming into force this month, Roblox will have to carry out a Children's Risk Assessment by July 2025. This would check the risks of children being exposed to harmful content within the game and whether additional safety measures are necessary. A spokesperson from Roblox told the Sun: 'These allegations are deeply troubling and not the kind of experience we want our users to have. 'We have a zero-tolerance policy against child exploitation and in November, we announced a number of changes to restrict chat functions for users under age 13. 'For example, users under 13 can no longer directly message others on Roblox outside of experiences. "Moreover, users under 13 are unable to directly message others within games and experiences unless the default setting is changed using Verified Parental Controls. 'We monitor 24/7 for inappropriate content, partner with law enforcement around the world, and are working tirelessly to enhance our systems, processes and policies.'
The Irish Sun
02-05-2025
- The Irish Sun
Horrifying Satanic paedo ring ‘764' groom girls as young as 11 into sex abuse & suicide…as sickos' vile boasts revealed
"GET them young and they're yours forever" - these are the chilling words from a twisted playbook to help Satan-obsessed paedophile abusers blackmail young girls online. Blending sickening neo-Nazi ideology and harrowing sexual extortion, terror cult 764 is among a worrying new breed of evil online abusers. 8 Richard Ehiemere had Category A child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on his phone - the worst kind Credit: NCA 8 The group share posts related to Satan, neo-Nazi ideology and child sex abuse images Credit: PA 8 British 764 member Cameron Finnigan, 19, tried to get a girl to end her life on webcam Credit: PA Targeting girls as young as nine, they blackmail kids into stripping, performing degrading sex acts, self-harming, attempting suicide and committing violence against animals and the public. At least four arrests have been made in the UK and according to the National Crime Agency (NCA), incidents have increased six-fold in the last two years and the membership is in the hundreds. Among them was Londoner Richard Ehiemere, 21, who was collared with 29 indecent images of children (IIOC) including 10 Category A - the most severe - on his phone. Under the alias 'Retaliate#1337' and then 17, his chilling boasts in online forums included sexual taunts to an 11-year-old girl. read more from features This week, Ehiemere was sentenced to 12 months, suspended for 18months, and given a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order for two counts of fraud - regarding data, password and username leaks - and three charges related to the horrifying photos. An 'In one group chat, a young girl, who was invited to join, asked, 'I'm 11, is that OK?' and he replied, 'OK, you're my little c** sl**'. 'CVLT (764) is very focused on sexual exploitation, grooming and dominating young girls. Their main thing is to get them to take their clothes off on camera and do whatever the group asks. Most read in The Sun 'That could be self-harm or sadistic sex acts, these girls are mostly 15 or 16, and on a few occasions, non-UK members have claimed they made girls attempt suicide on camera. 'They seek out vulnerable girls on mental health boards. The leader of the group advised looking out for victims with personality and eating disorders.' Mum's fury after paedo who lured her son, 6, into woods 'LET OFF with softer sentence' Worryingly, the NCA - who are UK's answer to the FBI - tell us young female victims are groomed to the point that they 'end up becoming perpetrators themselves'. They say: 'Just like you'd see with sex rings where girls are forced into it and then they get other girls into it too. The same thing is happening online.' 'Terror week' plot At least five British teens have been arrested for crimes related to 764 - including Cameron Finnigan, 19, known as 'ACID' online, who encouraged a young Italian to livestream herself ending her life. When asked about this sickening act in a police interview, he replied: 'The only risk I was concerned about is, if she went through with it and I got caught'. Cops also found an 11-page PDF document detailing how to carry out a 'mass casualty' attack against the public and that he plotted a 'terror week' with other members. Finnigan also planned to murder a homeless man living in a tent near his home and vowed online: 'I won't stop until he's dead.' That could be self-harm or sadistic sex acts, these girls are mostly 15 or 16, and on a few occasions, non-UK members have claimed they made girls attempt suicide on camera NCA cybercrime investigator Police also found six Category A child sex abuse images and a video on his computer - something Rob Richardson, head of the NCA's fight against the group, tells us is all too common with 764 members. He says: 'From what we understand, this group's motivation isn't necessarily around having a sexual interest in children or finance. Their motivation is notoriety and credibility online. 'The way they build that is by sharing child sex abuse material (CSAM), coercing vulnerable people to abuse themselves and others, or by shocking their peers. 'The occult (Satanism) is one method of that, another is sharing extreme right-wing ideology but what worries us more is extreme misogyny and what type of men will be made from this. 'The influence of the manosphere is breeding an entire community of misogynistic young men and we are very worried about what will happen in five or six years time.' 'X-Rated paedo hellscape' The group - set up in 2021 - was named after the Texas postcode of teen founder Bradley Cadenhead who is serving an 80-year sentence on charges of child pornography. 8 Finnigan planned a knife and firearm massacre Credit: PA 8 He shared photos of the tent of a homeless man, who he plotted to murder Credit: PA They find vulnerable teenage girls on communication apps and specifically hunt down youngsters with eating disorders and mental health issues. In the chilling 101 page "sexploitation playbook" recently seen by the Observer, they advised members how to target young victims online - headed with the quote: "Get them young, and they're yours forever." But in their bid to find younger victims, they have also taken to the infiltrating online games like Roblox, as The Sun discovered. Worryingly, just under half of UK gamers aged four to 18 play Roblox - making it the most popular title for minors - and a dream hunting ground for abusers. Last year, a damning report from Hindenburg Research accused Roblox of prioritising profits over child safety and branded the game 'an X-rated paedophile hellscape'. '[It was] replete with users attempting to groom our avatars, groups openly trading child pornography, widely accessible sex games, violent content and extremely abusive speech - all of which is open to young children,' the report claimed. Roblox has introduced 30 safety updates limiting how kids under 13 communicate and banning under-nines from 'moderate' content. Roblox consistently fails to remove communities trading child abuse material from its platform. Online paedophile hunter RealSchlep Despite this, The Sun has been made aware of a boy, aged 10, who was forced to strip on camera, carve a chunk of skin out of his thigh and livestream himself throwing up. In another case, a 12-year-old girl was forced to carve the name of her abuser into her skin and was hounded for hours in an attempt to convince her to kill her mother, until she broke down in tears and tried to overdose on medication. We also found T-shirts Roblox users could buy for their characters linked to the terror group, including one with the slogan: "He harm on my nation until I 764." Others featured '764' in the design, made reference to harming animals, sexual activity with children and bestiality. Some depicted self-harm wounds too. 'Catfished, lovebombed & sextorted' The predators will use the chat function in Roblox or find an online forum that talks about self-harm or bipolar disorder to find vulnerable children, who they call 'submits'. They will then persuade them to join a free online communication app, which is where the full extent of the grooming begins. Here they will catfish and lovebomb their victims, using fake photos and excessive displays of affection, to masquerade as the perfect romantic partner. 8 The founder of the 764 terror group Bradley Cadenhead Credit: IMDB 8 One user linked to 764 sold Roblox T-shirts featuring self-harm cuts and encouraging animal abuse Credit: Supplied 8 The Roblox in-game chat references twisted sexual fantasies, 764 and the age of a young gamer Credit: RealSchlep Once they have fully gained their trust they ask for sexually explicit photos or videos, which is when the truly sadistic stuff begins. The abuser will 'sextort' them by threatening to send the explicit photos to the victim's school or parents. Or they will threaten to 'swat' them by getting armed police officers to storm their address after making a hoax call or 'dox' them by publishing their private information online. Scared and vulnerable, these children are pressured into performing degrading acts on camera for their abusers, which will then be circulated amongst 764 members. A relative of one of the victims, who asked to remain anonymous, urged parents to monitor what their children do online. She said: 'If you must let your children play Roblox make sure you disable the in-game chat. You may think they're safe and only talking to other children but these children are often the ones grooming them'. 'Predators' paradise' YouTube paedophile hunter Michael, 21, from He tells us: "Roblox consistently fails to remove communities trading child abuse material from its platform. 'Sadistic groups fuled by melting pot of violence & extreme ideology' As for what turns young men to commit such vile acts, Dr Simon Duff, of the Centre of Forensic & Family Psychology at the University of Nottingham, gave his verdict. He told the Sun: 'For some people it might be through experiences where they have learned that certain tactics achieve goals. 'For example, if a child has been exposed to circumstances where they see that getting control of someone leads to positive outcomes they might learn to try to control others. 'It is possible that these behaviours develop from a child's experiences of trauma, which can impact how they understand and interact with the world. 'We also have to consider that some of it will be opportunistic, that someone sees an opportunity and takes advantage of it.' Andy Burrows, Chief Executive of Molly Rose Foundation added: "It is sickening that children are being groomed into such incredibly distressing and disturbing acts online by sadistic groups fuelled by a melting pot of violent and extreme ideologies. "The urgency and depravity of these risks requires the Prime Minister to act. After multiple warnings by global law enforcement about these groups we need stronger online safety laws to keep our children safe." "I publicly called out one of these groups in response to the CEO of Roblox and my post got more likes than his. "The chances someone at Roblox saw it? Extremely high. And yet, the group is still up." With the Online Safety Act 2023 coming into force this month, Roblox will have to carry out a Children's Risk Assessment by July 2025. This would check the risks of children being exposed to harmful content within the game and whether additional safety measures are necessary. A spokesperson from Roblox told the Sun: 'These allegations are deeply troubling and not the kind of experience we want our users to have. 'We have a zero-tolerance policy against child exploitation and in November, we announced a number of changes to restrict chat functions for users under age 13. 'For example, users under 13 can no longer directly message others on Roblox outside of experiences. "Moreover, users under 13 are unable to directly message others within games and experiences unless the default setting is changed using Verified Parental Controls. 'We monitor 24/7 for inappropriate content, partner with law enforcement around the world, and are working tirelessly to enhance our systems, processes and policies.'
Boston Globe
25-03-2025
- Boston Globe
Online harm gangs pose ‘unprecedented risk' to teens, says UK crime agency
He added, 'These groups are not lurking on the dark web, they exist in the same online world and platforms young people use on a daily basis,' and noted that young girls were being 'groomed into hurting themselves and in some cases, even encouraged to attempt suicide.' The groups have reached young people using gaming platforms such as Roblox as well as messaging apps such as Discord and Telegram. Advertisement The agency's National Strategic Assessment for 2024 said that while adults were involved in these communities or networks, it was especially concerned about teenage boys often sharing sadistic and misogynistic material and targeting girls as young as 11. Described as 'Com' networks, the forums have become vehicles for sharing images of extreme violence, gore, and child sexual abuse. They are also used to apply 'extreme coercion' to manipulate young people into harming or abusing themselves, their siblings or pets, the agency said. 'Members of 'Com' networks are usually young men who are motivated by status, power, control, misogyny, sexual gratification, or an obsession with extreme or violent material,' said the report, which added that the emergence of these types of online groups 'are almost certainly causing some individuals, especially younger people, to develop a dangerous propensity for extreme violence.' It added that the networks typically attract young males promoting nihilistic views, who 'attempt to gain status with other users by committing or encouraging harmful acts across a broad spectrum of offending.' Advertisement Users in Britain and other Western countries 'had exchanged millions of messages online relating to sexual and physical abuse,' it noted. The crime agency gave the example of Cameron Finnigan, a British teenager who was sentenced to jail in January after being part of an online satanist group that blackmails other children into filming or livestreaming self-harm, violence, and sexual abuse. Finnigan, 19, used the Telegram app to encourage contacts to commit murder and suicide. In his statement, Biggar said police were collaborating with technology companies and psychologists to better understand the behavior of young people but added that he encouraged parents 'to have regular conversations with their child about what they do online.' Jess Phillips, a government minister who has responsibility for tackling violence against women and girls, described the scale of abuse outlined in the report as 'absolutely horrific,' and also urged open conversations within families. 'My message to tech companies is simple: This is your responsibility, too,' she said. 'You must ensure your platforms are safe for children, so that we can protect the most vulnerable and put predators behind bars.' The agency's latest survey focused heavily on the use of technology and online platforms in crimes including fraud, extremism, and sexual abuse. Citing statistics from the Internet Watch Foundation, a nonprofit organization, it said that 291,273 webpages had contained indecent images of children in 2024, a 6 percent increase since 2023. Of these, 91 percent were classified as self-generated indecent imagery, either shared consensually, or elicited through manipulation. This article originally appeared in .
New York Times
25-03-2025
- New York Times
Online Harm Gangs Pose ‘Unprecedented Risk' to Teens, Says U.K. Crime Agency
Britain's National Crime Agency has warned of an 'unprecedented risk' to young people from online groups that encourage teenagers to share sadistic and misogynistic material and to coerce others into sexual abuse, self-harm or violence. The agency, which is responsible for combating serious and organized crime in Britain, said Tuesday in an annual assessment of crime trends that reports of incidents related to the threat from online groups increased sixfold between 2022 and 2024 in Britain and warned of significant numbers of victims being groomed or blackmailed. 'Young people are being drawn into these sadistic and violent online gangs, where they are collaborating at scale to inflict, or incite others to commit, serious harm,' said Graeme Biggar, director general of the agency, in a statement. He added, 'These groups are not lurking on the dark web, they exist in the same online world and platforms young people use on a daily basis,' and noted that young girls were being 'groomed into hurting themselves and in some cases, even encouraged to attempt suicide.' The agency's National Strategic Assessment for 2024 said that while adults were involved in these communities or networks, it was especially concerned about teenage boys often sharing sadistic and misogynistic material and targeting girls as young as 11. Described as 'Com' networks, the forums have become vehicles for sharing images of extreme violence, gore and child sexual abuse. They are also used to apply 'extreme coercion' to manipulate young people into harming or abusing themselves, their siblings or pets, the agency said. 'Members of 'Com' networks are usually young men who are motivated by status, power, control, misogyny, sexual gratification, or an obsession with extreme or violent material,' said the report, which added that the emergence of these types of online groups 'are almost certainly causing some individuals, especially younger people, to develop a dangerous propensity for extreme violence.' It added that the networks typically attract young males promoting nihilistic views, who 'attempt to gain status with other users by committing or encouraging harmful acts across a broad spectrum of offending.' Users in Britain and other western countries 'had exchanged millions of messages online relating to sexual and physical abuse,' it noted. The crime agency gave the example of Cameron Finnigan, a British teenager who was sentenced to jail in January after being part of an online Satanist group that blackmails other children into filming or livestreaming self-harm, violence and sexual abuse. Mr. Finnigan, 19, used the Telegram app to encourage contacts to commit murder and suicide. In his statement, Mr. Biggar said that police were collaborating with technology companies and psychologists to better understand the behavior of young people but added that he encouraged parents 'to have regular conversations with their child about what they do online.' Jess Phillips, a government minister who has responsibility for tackling violence against women and girls, described the scale of abuse outlined in the report as 'absolutely horrific,' and also urged open conversations within families. 'My message to tech companies is simple: This is your responsibility, too,' she added. 'You must ensure your platforms are safe for children, so that we can protect the most vulnerable and put predators behind bars.' The agency's latest survey focused heavily on the use of technology and online platforms in crimes including fraud, extremism and sexual abuse. Citing statistics from the Internet Watch Foundation, a nonprofit organization, it said that 291,273 web pages had contained indecent images of children in 2024, a 6 percent increase since 2023. Of these, 91 percent were classified as self-generated indecent imagery, either shared consensually, or elicited through manipulation.
New York Times
25-03-2025
- New York Times
Online Harm Groups Pose ‘Unprecedented Risk' to Teens, Says U.K. Crime Agency
Britain's National Crime Agency has warned of an 'unprecedented risk' to young people from online groups that encourage teenagers to share sadistic and misogynistic material and to coerce others into sexual abuse, self-harm or violence. The agency, which is responsible for combating serious and organized crime in Britain, said Tuesday in an annual assessment of crime trends that reports of incidents related to the threat from online groups increased sixfold between 2022 and 2024 in Britain and warned of significant numbers of victims being groomed or blackmailed. 'Young people are being drawn into these sadistic and violent online gangs, where they are collaborating at scale to inflict, or incite others to commit, serious harm,' said Graeme Biggar, director general of the agency, in a statement. He added, 'These groups are not lurking on the dark web, they exist in the same online world and platforms young people use on a daily basis,' and noted that young girls were being 'groomed into hurting themselves and in some cases, even encouraged to attempt suicide.' The agency's National Strategic Assessment for 2024 said that while adults were involved in these communities or networks, it was especially concerned about teenage boys often sharing sadistic and misogynistic material and targeting girls as young as 11. Described as 'Com' networks, the forums have become vehicles for sharing images of extreme violence, gore and child sexual abuse. They are also used to apply 'extreme coercion' to manipulate young people into harming or abusing themselves, their siblings or pets, the agency said. 'Members of 'Com' networks are usually young men who are motivated by status, power, control, misogyny, sexual gratification, or an obsession with extreme or violent material,' said the report, which added that the emergence of these types of online groups 'are almost certainly causing some individuals, especially younger people, to develop a dangerous propensity for extreme violence.' It added that the networks typically attract young males promoting nihilistic views, who 'attempt to gain status with other users by committing or encouraging harmful acts across a broad spectrum of offending.' Users in Britain and other western countries 'had exchanged millions of messages online relating to sexual and physical abuse,' it noted. The crime agency gave the example of Cameron Finnigan, a British teenager who was sentenced to jail in January after being part of an online Satanist group that blackmails other children into filming or livestreaming self-harm, violence and sexual abuse. Mr. Finnigan, 19, used the Telegram app to encourage contacts to commit murder and suicide. In his statement, Mr. Biggar said that police were collaborating with technology companies and psychologists to better understand the behavior of young people but added that he encouraged parents 'to have regular conversations with their child about what they do online.' Jess Phillips, a government minister who has responsibility for tackling violence against women and girls, described the scale of abuse outlined in the report as 'absolutely horrific,' and also urged open conversations within families. 'My message to tech companies is simple: This is your responsibility, too,' she added. 'You must ensure your platforms are safe for children, so that we can protect the most vulnerable and put predators behind bars.' The agency's latest survey focused heavily on the use of technology and online platforms in crimes including fraud, extremism and sexual abuse. Citing statistics from the Internet Watch Foundation, a nonprofit organization, it said that 291,273 web pages had contained indecent images of children in 2024, a 6 percent increase since 2023. Of these, 91 percent were classified as self-generated indecent imagery, either shared consensually, or elicited through manipulation.
