Source: US FBI
Baron Martin, 20, of Tucson, Arizona, was arrested on Dec. 11 for producing child sexual abuse material and cyberstalking offenses carried out as part of his participation in online violent terror networks known as 764 and CVLT.
“764 remains a dangerous network of violent extremists who systematically target children and weaponize child sexual abuse material for the purpose of furthering an accelerationist agenda, destroying civilized society, and causing the collapse of the U.S. Government,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew G. Olsen. “The Department of Justice is fully committed to stopping 764’s acts of terrorism and disrupting the 764 network.”
”The Department’s Project Safe Childhood strives to protect America’s youth, whether from individual stalkers or organized, virtual networks,” said U.S. Attorney Gary Restaino for the District of Arizona. “This case serves not only to deter unlawful conduct, but also to encourage parents and children to remain vigilant and seek help when they encounter predatory and violent activity in the online world.”
“The details in this case are simply horrific as the defendant allegedly coerced children to harm themselves multiple times,” said Executive Assistant Director Robert Wells of the FBI’s National Security Branch. “The FBI’s mission is to protect the American people and we take that especially seriously when it comes to the young and vulnerable. The FBI will use all of our authorities to investigate and hold accountable anyone who preys on children.”
The unsealed complaint alleges that 764 is a network of violent extremists who engage in criminal conduct within the United States and abroad. Those involved with the 764 network, individually and as a network, methodically target vulnerable, underage populations across the United States and the globe by using known online social media communications platforms to support the possession, production, and sharing of extreme gore media and child sexual abuse material (CSAM) with vulnerable, juvenile populations. Members of 764 seek to desensitize young people to violence and break down societal norms regarding violence, and they normalize the possession, production, and sharing of explicit CSAM and gore material to corrupt and groom their victims toward future violence.
Historically, members of 764 systematically target underage females, groom them, extort them, and force them to mutilate themselves or others and either film or photograph such activity, at times while streaming it online for other members of the network. The network members will then commonly edit compilation photographs or videos of their victims, share these photographs or videos on their social media platforms to gain notoriety among other members of the network, and spread fear among their victims all for the purpose of accelerating chaos under the 764 ideology with an aim toward the disruption of society. The network has shifted names over time and spawned known offshoot networks. Although the network moves between social media channels and changes its name, the core goals and membership remain consistent and appear under the overarching threat of 764.
Since approximately 2021, “Convict” has appeared as a participant in chatrooms related to the online terror networks 764 and CVLT. According to the complaint, Martin admitted to using the moniker “Convict” on social media platforms and, on multiple occasions, claimed online to be an owner of 764 and CVLT, teaching 764 members how to extort victims, describing himself as the “king of extortion,” and boasting he was “the catalyst for thousands of extortions” in 764. Martin also created and posted on a social media platform a detailed guide on how to identify, groom, and extort vulnerable juveniles.
The complaint accuses Martin of producing child sex abuse material on Discord, a chat and gaming platform, in September 2022, by making two separate minors self-mutilate for him. On one occasion, Martin had a 13-year-old child cut his name “in every possible place” she could to include her chest, stomach, and thighs, and threatened to “leak” pictures of her if she did not comply. On other occasions, Martin directed this same minor child to cut certain designs into her body to include swastikas and satanic symbols.
Martin also directed another minor victim, 16, on Discord, to scratch herself with her nails, ordering her to “draw blood,” saying “I want it dripping.” He then told her to pour rubbing alcohol over the wounds. Martin later sent three videos of this sadistic abuse of the minor to another Discord user. In the videos, the minor is scratching her forearm with her nails and pouring rubbing alcohol onto the scratches before curling up in apparent pain with a rag in her mouth.
Martin is also accused of cyberstalking a different 13-year-old minor for threats he sent over Discord in September 2022. Martin told this minor victim he put a “hit” on her grandmother, and he solicited individuals to kill the victim’s grandmother. Martin agreed to pay one person $3,000 to kidnap and murder the victim’s grandmother, whose address he provided. The complaint alleges that in a separate server chat, Martin posted the phone numbers of both the minor and her grandmother and told the network to contact both numbers to harass them.
If convicted, Martin faces a penalty of up to 30 years in prison for producing child sexual abuse material and a penalty of up to 10 years in prison for cyberstalking when the victim is a minor and no bodily injury resulted from the conduct. Each offense also carries a fine of up to $250,000 and up to a lifetime of supervised release. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The FBI is investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Liza Granoff and Carin C. Duryée for the District of Arizona and Trial Attorneys Justin Sher and James Donnelly of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
A complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.