An accused pervert allegedly tied to a dark online community of twisted sexual extremists was arrested on charges of manipulating young kids into sending him explicit videos and photos that included self-harm.
Officers collared Bryant Gonzalez, 24, at his home in Downey Thursday on accusations he coerced minor girls to create and send him sexually explicit videos, Justice Department officials said Friday.
The suspected sicko groomed one of his victims to film herself engaging in self-harm and self-humiliation and then shared the vile images with others online, the complaint charges.
Gonzalez appeared before a federal judge late Thursday at US District Court in downtown Los Angeles. He did not enter a plea.
He is being held without bail and his arraignment is scheduled for March 10.
Los Angeles’ top federal prosecutor Bill Essayli told the Post that Gonzalez appeared to be affiliated with a twisted — and growing — online ideology known as “764.”
Essayli described 764 is a violent international extremist network that operates online by targeting and exploiting vulnerable minors through sextortion, coercion and manipulation.
Adherents to 764 like Gonzalez encourage self-harm, animal cruelty and even suicide, and have been linked to numerous terrorist-like “swatting” activities worldwide, the prosecutor said.
“This particular group preys on children online, through social media or other direct messaging apps,” Essayli told The Post. “They look for kids that are susceptible to being exploited.”
According to an affidavit filed with the criminal complaint against Gonzalez, he coerced kids to send him child sex abuse material from at least April to June of last year.
In communication with other users, Gonzalez allegedly boasted about extorting his young victims by threatening to send sexually explicit images to their families.
The complaint states that members of 764 engage in criminal conduct in service to sick political, social or religious goals derived from a hatred of society and a desire to sow instability through indiscriminate chaos and destruction.
The shadowy group is often described as a “gore group” or “sadistic cult,” according to the FBI.
REUTERS
Essayli said believers get their satisfaction from watching others suffer.
“A lot of these guys, it’s a weird fetish in having power over somebody,” he said. “They use it as a source of control over their victims.”
According to the complaint, Gonzalez urged an 11-year-old girl to send him a sexually explicit video. He collected at least six videos of the child that he then shared with other online perverts on multiple occasions, prosecutors said.
Gonzalez also convinced a 15-year-old girl to send him at least four sexually explicit images and several videos in which she engaged in self-harm and self-humiliation, officials say.
If convicted, Gonzalez faces up to 30 years in federal prison. A lawyer for Gonzalez could not be reached.
Essayli’s office has handled at least four cases since April in which 764 has been involved, indicating the pervasive and growing nature of the sadistic online ideology.
“There’s varying motivations for these people,” he said. “But, regardless of their motivations, they’re going to be aggressively pursued, arrested, charged, and hopefully spend a very long time in federal prison.”
