“I just see no point. Grades are done. Teachers are done. Let them live.”
The FBI is closely monitoring a network of online predators who target children and teenagers.
The predators are part of a large network known as “764” and are known to befriend their victims through online platforms, such as Roblox and Discord, before coercing them to engage in sexual and violent acts.
According to ABC News, the FBI has opened more than 250 investigations tied to the “764” network.
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"We see a lot of bad things, but this is one of the most disturbing things we're seeing," FBI Assistant Director David Scott, who leads the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division, told ABC News.
The FBI has at least one “764”-related case open in all 55 of its field offices across the United States.
They treat these cases as a “potential form of domestic terrorism” and refer to the most extreme suspects as “nihilistic violent extremists” who aim to “sow chaos” and “bring down society,” according to Scott.
Victims are as young as nine and are often asked to send graphic photos and videos of themselves — which are then used as a form of blackmail to force victims into complying with the predator’s demands.
"They want to desensitize these young people so that nothing really disturbs them anymore," Scott told ABC News.
“The more gore, the more violence ... that raises their stature within the groups," he added. "So it's sort of a badge of honor within some of these groups to actually do the most harm to victims."
The FBI has arrested 15 people associated with ‘764’
The FBI is warning parents that “764” is a global movement with a number of offshoots and subgroups.
They’ve already arrested 15 people who they believe to be associated with the online group — including a 20-year-old man in North Carolina who allegedly helped launch “764” more than four years ago.
That man, Prasan Nepal, allegedly started the online community with Bradley Cadenhead, who is currently serving an 80-year sentence in Texas on several charges related to child pornography.
In another case, a 24-year-old man in Arkansas, Jairo Tinajero, was plotting to murder a 14-year-old girl in hopes of raising his stature within the “764” group. He’s expected to be sentenced in August.
Leaders of 764 Arrested and Charged for Operating Global Child Exploitation Enterprise https://t.co/OMLwxvkWqV@FBIWFO @NewYorkFBI pic.twitter.com/40Ow7hbp95
— FBI (@FBI) April 30, 2025
ABC News spoke with the mother of a teenage girl who conspired with an overseas “764” member to unleash a series of bomb threats in her local community.
“It was very difficult to process, because we didn't raise her to engage in that kind of activity," the mother said of her daughter, who she described as a “former honor roll student.”
The girl had met the “764” member through Roblox and communicated regularly through platforms like Discord. When the police searched her phone, they found a series of pornographic and violent photos.
Some of the photos depicted her cutting herself and writing notes in her own blood.
#FBI warns of a sharp increase in the activity of "764" and other violent online networks that target and exploit minors and other vulnerable individuals into producing or live-streaming acts of self-harm, animal cruelty, sexual explicitness, or suicide: https://t.co/ppmjhU3gYp pic.twitter.com/IRMimBjZ1k
— FBI (@FBI) March 6, 2025
"They felt like they owned her," the mother said of her daughter, who allegedly helped direct a series of bomb threats against Vernon-area schools in 2023.
Prior to her arrest in 2024, the teenage girl had started to resist some of the “764” member’s demands.
As a result, the predator resorted to “swatting” — which is when someone files a false report of crime or violence in hopes of sending SWAT teams to the victim’s home.
"One time ... they had surrounded our whole house," the girl's mother told ABC News. "And then that kept going on and on."
What can parents do to protect their children from ‘764?’
As new cases continue to emerge across the country, the FBI wants parents to “be on the lookout.”
According to Vernon police detective Tommy Van Tasel, who spoke with ABC News, that means being aware of changes in their child’s activity or personality — as well as signs of self-harm or violence.
More specifically, federal authorities recommend watching what their kids do when online.
"Just be on the lookout for any of those things that are alarming, and just have in the back of your mind that this may all be a result of what is happening online," Van Tasel said.
Parents are being urged to contact local authorities if they notice anything suspicious.
Several online platforms, including Discord, are doing their part to provide a safe and secure environment online for kids and teens — such as removing harmful content and assisting authorities when needed.
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As one Discord spokesperson said to ABC News, the “horrific actions of 764 have no place on Discord or in society.”
