Overview
- The FBI announced Tuesday that a 17-year-old from Maine was federally adjudicated and ordered to serve a term of federal detention followed by supervised release for crimes linked to the 764 network.
- The youth was found delinquent on multiple counts, including conspiring to sexually exploit a child, sexual exploitation and enticement of a child, distribution of child sexual abuse material, interstate threats, cyberstalking and identity theft.
- Authorities declined to disclose the teen’s name or the exact length of the custodial term because federal juvenile privacy rules restrict release of those details.
- The FBI said it is investigating more than 500 people nationwide tied to the 764 ecosystem and urged victims to preserve digital evidence such as usernames and platform information and to report tips by phone or the agency’s electronic form.
- Federal officials described the 764 network as founded in 2021 and made up of members who befriend and coerce minors into escalating sexual and violent acts, and they said the prosecution is intended to deter recruitment and prompt further prosecutions and protective action for vulnerable children.