April 4 (UPI) — A California man has been charged with targeting children for sexual exploitation, the Justice Department announced on Friday.
Officials contend Jose Henry Ayala Casamiro is a member of a group of “violent extremists” that aim to “accelerate social unrest and the downfall of the current world order,” the Justice Department said in a statement.
Ayala is accused of being a member of the 764 network, which the Justice Department refers to as a “network of nihilistic violent extremists who engage in criminal conduct, particularly targeting children for sexual exploitation online.”
Officials contend the 764 group has a common goal of “destroying civilized society through the corruption and exploitation of vulnerable populations, including minors.”
The 28-year-old, who is from San Fernando, Calif., was arrested Thursday by FBI agents and made his first court appearance the same day.
Authorities contend he convinced minors to record videos of themselves engaging in sexual exploitation and self-harm while working as part of the 764 network of loosely-connected members.
“As part of the 764 network, Ayala was allegedly involved with an online group that blackmailed underage girls into creating child pornography videos depicting themselves engaging in degrading sadistic sexual acts, torture sessions, and carving their abusers’ initials or names on their bodies,” the Justice Department said in its statement.
The complaints date back to at least 2020, when Ayala is accused of blackmailing underage girls into creating child pornography and harming themselves on video. Separate accusations stem from this past February and March.
Last December, authorities arrested a 20-year-old man in Tucson accused of being a member of “online terror groups,” including the 764 organization.
