Five members of an online group called “Greggy’s Cult” have been charged with sexually exploiting children on the Internet, after which they even urged the minors to commit suicide, federal officials said on Tuesday.
The defendants are accused of producing and distributing child sex abuse materials, as well as extorting minor and adult victims, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York announced.
The accused members of “Greggy’s Cult” — Hector Bermudez, Zachary Dosch, Rumaldo Valdez, David Brilhante, and Camden Rodriguez — were charged on Tuesday in federal court in Brooklyn, New York.
“Members of Greggy’s Cult engaged in conduct such as encouraging victims to kill themselves or demanding that they insert household objects into their genitals or anus,” prosecutors said.
Bermudez, Dosch, Brilhante, and Rodriguez were arrested on Tuesday, while Valdez is currently in jail for a separate “federal matter,” authorities said.
The five suspects were charged for their “participation in a child exploitation enterprise, conspiracy to produce child pornography, conspiracy to receive and distribute child pornography, and conspiracy to communicate interstate threats,” officials said.
Greggy’s Cult members also extorted adult victims by trying to frame them as pedophiles, as well as extorted minor victims by sending malware to their computers and refusing to return their access until the children complied with their demands, officials noted.
“These defendants are charged with the unspeakable act of coercing and blackmailing children and adults to engage in self-harm and other degrading acts,” Matthew R. Galeotti, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said.
Authorities say the defendants led the online cult — carrying out their alleged crimes on a series of Discord servers (the Target Server) — and even encouraged their victims to commit suicide.
Joseph Nocella, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said the defendants coerced children “into creating grotesque child pornography of themselves,” and then distributing the material, before “torment[ing] these victims with the images, not only encouraging self-harm, but also encouraging some minors to commit suicide.”
“I strongly urge parents and caregivers to speak to their children about the dangers of communicating with strangers on social media and how to seek help from adults and law enforcement in these situations,” Nocella advised.
U.S. Attorney General Bondi, meanwhile, said, “The Department of Justice will continue to protect children, support survivors, and hold accountable anyone who preys on the vulnerable — online or offline — with every tool we have.”
The indictment accuses the suspects of capturing screenshots and screen recordings of the sexually explicit material of their minor victims and sharing it on the Target Server, to other Discord servers, and amongst themselves, between January 2020 and January 2021.
The defendants are also accused of getting their victims to “degrade themselves by engaging in self-harm, including professing themselves as being ‘owned’ by a member of ‘Greggy’s Cult’ to demonstrate loyalty,” officials said.
The indictment also alleges that the defendants made their victims write the names of “Greggy’s Cult” members on their bodies and hold up signs with their names — a practice known as as “fansigning.”
Greggy’s Cult’s existence dates before “another sadistic extortion network,” called “764,” prosecutors said, adding that “prominent members of 764 and other similar networks” were also members of Greggy’s Cult.
In addition to using Discord servers, the online cult members also found their victims on the gaming platforms Roblox and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, authorities said.
“The FBI will stop at nothing in its pursuit of violent predators targeting the children in our communities and will work closely with our law enforcement partners to identify and dismantle the enterprise networks responsible for these heinous acts,” FBI Special Agent in Charge David Porter said.
The FBI is urging anyone who believes they have been victimized by or may have more information on the defendants to contact them at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324).
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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