Govind Tekale
Two alleged leaders of the online “764” network have been arrested in sweeping international operations this spring. Prasan “Trippy” Nepal (20) was detained in North Carolina on April 22, 2025, while Leonidas “War” Varagiannis (21) was apprehended in Thessaloniki, Greece on April 29, 2025. Both face serious charges related to operating a global child exploitation enterprise, with potential life sentences if convicted.
The 764 network, designated as a “nihilistic violent extremist” (NVE) organization, coerced minors into self-harm and creating child sexual abuse material (CSAM) used as recruitment currency. Its origins trace back to 2020 when Bradley Cadenhead (“Felix”) founded it in Stephenville, Texas—named for the area’s 764 ZIP code—before evolving into a transnational criminal enterprise active primarily on Discord and Telegram.
How 764 Operates
The FBI has documented the network’s psychological manipulation tactics. According to court filings, 764 members:
- Target vulnerable youth in self-harm forums, building trust by praising harmful behaviors
- Coerce victims as young as nine years old into performing sexual and violent acts on camera
- Compile “lorebooks” of abuse material as digital currency for internal status
- Rapidly create new encrypted channels after platform bans to evade detection
FBI Assistant Director David Scott has called 764 members “nihilistic violent extremists” who use gore as a “badge of honor,” noting the case now merits domestic terrorism scrutiny.
Legal Precedents Show Pattern of Severe Sentencing
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These arrests build on prior prosecutions of 764 members:
- Jack Rocker received 84 months in federal prison with lifetime supervision in January 2025 for CSAM possession
- Jairo Jaime Tinajero pleaded guilty in February 2025 to racketeering conspiracy, CSAM production/distribution, threats, and conspiracy to murder, with terrorism enhancements applied
- Richard Anthony Reyna Densmore was sentenced to 30 years for child sexual exploitation linked to the network
Department of Justice Attorney General Pamela Bondi called 764 “one of the most heinous online child exploitation enterprises we have ever encountered.”
Global Law Enforcement Coordination
The arrests highlight unprecedented international cooperation:
- Europol’s EU Internet Referral Unit conducted coordinated takedowns across 14 countries in December 2022, working with 30+ platforms to remove extremist content
- INTERPOL’s Child Exploitation Prevention Command trains investigators worldwide and maintains the International Child Sexual Exploitation database for victim identification
- The Royal Canadian Mounted Police issued public warnings in July/August 2024 about these networks targeting children aged 8–17, including 2SLGBTQIA+ youth
Policy and Platform Responses
Governments and tech companies are responding with new measures:
- The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) passed by the U.S. Senate in July 2024 imposes a “duty of care” on platforms to protect minors through privacy defaults, parental controls and mandatory reporting
- The EU Digital Services Act enforces rapid removal of illegal content, risk assessments for large platforms, and fines up to 6% of global turnover
- Discord has reported making proactive disclosures to law enforcement, while other platforms have increased CSAM reporting and removal efforts
- The Scale of the Problem
- The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children reported 36.2 million CyberTipline reports in 2023—a 12% increase year-over-year—involving over 100 million files. Urgent reports of imminent child risk rose 140% over three years.
- Cybersecurity expert Allison Nixon praised these arrests as a major victory, noting that 764-related crime waves are driven by a small group of prolific offenders.
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- Protection and Prevention
- Child safety experts recommend parents watch for warning signs including:
- Unexplained injuries or signs of self-harm
- Secretive online behavior
- Sudden changes in mood or social withdrawal
- NCMEC offers 24/7 reporting via their CyberTipline (1-800-843-5678) for suspected online exploitation.
- Research links online grooming experiences to long-term mental health crises, with a troubling rise in self-generated CSAM as predators coerce minors into creating explicit content themselves.
- The Nepal and Varagiannis cases now move forward in federal court, with Nepal’s proceedings transferred to Washington, D.C. The 764 investigations involve more than 250 separate inquiries across 55 FBI field offices, demonstrating the network’s global reach and the complexity of dismantling online exploitation rings.
