A High Point man has been arrested and charged with operating an international child exploitation enterprise in connection with a nihilistic violent extremist (NVE) network known as 764.
According to the US Department of Justice, 20-year-old Prasan Nepal, also known as Trippy, was arrested on April 22 in North Carolina, while a co-defendant, 21-year-old Leonidas Varagiannis, an American citizen also known as War, was arrested on April 28 in Greece, where he was residing.
Officials said 764 is a “violent online network that seeks to destroy civilized society through the corruption and exploitation of vulnerable populations, which often include minors.” The network’s goals include social unrest and the downfall of the current world order, including the US government.
“These defendants are accused of orchestrating one of the most heinous online child exploitation enterprises we have ever encountered — a network built on terror, abuse, and the deliberate targeting of children,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a press release. “We will find those who exploit and abuse children, prosecute them, and dismantle every part of their operation.”
According to an affidavit unsealed Tuesday, the network’s activities spanned from late 2020 through early 2025, with core leadership roles attributed to both defendants throughout the period.
The DOJ said Nepal and Varagiannis allegedly engaged in a coordinated criminal enterprise and led a core subgroup within 764 known as 764 Inferno, operated through encrypted messaging applications. They allegedly directed, participated in, and otherwise caused the production and distribution of child sexual-abuse material (CSAM), and the defendants facilitated the grooming, manipulation, and extortion of minors.
Both men allegedly ordered their victims to commit acts of self-harm and engaged in psychological torment and extreme violence against minors.
The affidavit states that the group targeted vulnerable children online, coercing them into producing degrading and explicit content under threat and manipulation. This content included “cut signs” and “blood signs,” through which young minors would cut symbols into their bodies.
“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 release. “Let me be very clear about our efforts. The FBI and our partners are determined to protect juveniles from predators, and we will track down and hold accountable those who engage in these criminal activities. We will continue to work closely with our partners at the Department of Justice to bring justice to the victims of such cruel abuse.”
Nepal and Varagiannis and their co-conspirators around the world used the CSAM and other gory and violent material to create digital “Lorebooks,” which NVEs used as digital currency within the 764 network. This material was traded, archived in encrypted “vaults,” and used to recruit new members or maintain status within the network.
They also allegedly instructed other members in grooming tactics. In multiple instances, the defendants threatened and caused their victims to engage in self-mutilation, online and in-person sexual acts, harm to animals, sexual exploitation of siblings and others, acts of violence, threats of violence, suicide, and murder.
Officials said the defendants exploited at least eight minor victims across multiple jurisdictions, with some content traced back to children as young as 13 years old.
“The allegations in this case are not only disturbing, they are also every parent’s nightmare,” US Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr. for the District of Columbia said in the release. “The number of victims allegedly exploited by these defendants, and the depths of depravity are staggering. Justice demands that our response be swift in order to ensure public safety, hold the wrongdoers accountable, and bring the victims some sense of closure so they can heal.”
If convicted, the defendants face a maximum penalty of life in prison.
The FBI Charlotte Field Office and Assistant US Attorney Eric Iverson for the Middle District of North Carolina assisted with the case.
On April 15, House Bill 301, a bill that would ban social media for minors under the age of 14 in North Carolina cleared a House Commerce and Economic Development committee.
It would also require parental consent for teens between the ages of 14 and 15 in order to create a social media account. Under the bill, social media platforms would be responsible for terminating unauthorized accounts for minors and ensure personal data is erased.
State Rep. Jeff Zenger, R-Forsyth, who sponsored the bill, pointed to recent statistics as justification for the legislation. According to the Office of the Surgeon General, “40% of children aged 8-12 are on social media, where there are an estimated 500,000 predators seeking to exploit kids each day,” Zenger said. “You’re hard-pressed to find anybody to say there’s any good thing about kids being on social media.”
The case against Nepal and Varagiannis was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
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