Two leaders of what authorities described as a violent online network have been arrested and charged for allegedly operating "one of the most heinous online child exploitation enterprises" officials have ever seen.
The leaders, 21-year-old Leonidas Varagiannis, who is also known online as "War," and 20-year-old Prasan Nepal, also known as "Trippy," could spend the rest of their lives in prison for their alleged crimes, which include targeting vulnerable children online and "coercing them into producing degrading and explicit content under threat and manipulation," the Justice Department said in a news release Tuesday.
Some content was traced to kids as young as 13.
"The allegations in this case are not only disturbing, they are also every parent's nightmare," U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Edward R. Martin Jr. said in the news release. "The number of victims allegedly exploited by these defendants, and the depths of depravity are staggering."
The network, known as 764, "seeks to destroy civilized society through the corruption and exploitation of vulnerable populations, which often include minors," the Justice Department said. Its activities took place from late 2020 through early this year.
According to the Justice Department, Varagiannis and Nepal led a core subgroup within 764 that operated through encrypted messaging apps, and they allegedly directed and participated in the production and distribution of child sexual abuse material.
"These defendants allegedly recruited others to exploit children and created a guide for the disgusting online content they wanted," FBI Director Kash Patel said in the news release.
Nepal was arrested in North Carolina last week and Varagiannis was arrested on Monday in Greece, where he resides, authorities said. Varagiannis, who was arrested on an international warrant, denied the allegations and has formally opposed extradition, his lawyer and Greek judicial authorities said, according to The Associated Press.
"Throughout the period during which the alleged offenses took place, he was residing in Greece," Xanthippi Moysidou, Varagiannis' lawyer, told the AP. "Therefore, Greek law and courts have jurisdiction over the case, and his extradition is explicitly prohibited."
Sarah Lynch Baldwin