Law enforcement authorities target members of prolific online communities dedicated to the sexual abuse of children and manipulation of vulnerable minors into committing violent crimes. This coercion into committing violent crime spans multiple areas, including acts of cruelty against people and animals, murder and self-harm. These extremist communities are part of a larger online network, so called “The Com”. Through this network, extremists around the world collude to groom and abuse children. These groups operate virtually in easily accessible online spaces such as social media platforms, mobile applications and online gaming platforms. International cooperation via Europol has intensified in the past year, leading to the identification of dangerous individuals and the safeguarding of victims, mostly vulnerable minors.

Two suspected leaders of online group “CVLT” arrested in the US

On 30 January, the United States Homeland Security Investigations arrested two individuals for participating in a neo-Nazi child exploitation ring that groomed and then coerced minors into produce child sexual abuse material and images of self-harm. The group allegedly abused at least 16 minors around the world. According to the investigation, the two men were members of “CVLT” (pronounced “cult”), an online group that promoted neo-Nazism, nihilism, and paedophilia as its core principles.

The investigations into these individuals (a 23- and 41-year-old males from the US), were supported by Europol, and involved the French National Police (Police Nationale), the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency and the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs. These arrests follow previous arrests of two other prolific members of this community, both males in their twenties. One of the previously arrested suspects has been in French custody since 2022 for several child exploitation and related offenses. The second is currently in the US, serving a 50-year sentence for child sex abuse crimes committed in 2020 and 2021.

Three of these four arrested offenders are considered to have acted as leaders and administrator of the violent online abuse community, hosting and running CVLT online servers and controlling membership for the group.

Victims trapped in an abuse cycle

Members of this violent CVLT community groomed children into producing child sexual abuse material through various means of degradation, including exposing the victims to extremist and violent content. CVLT specifically targeted vulnerable victims, including minors suffering from mental health issues or a history of sexual abuse. Victims were encouraged to engage in increasingly dehumanising acts, including cutting and eating their own hair, drinking their urine, punching themselves, calling themselves racial insults, and using razor blades to carve CVLT members’ names into their skin.

CVLT members’ coercion escalated to pressuring victims to kill themselves via video livestream. They blackmailed the victims to submit and remain silent, threatening to distribute already-obtained compromising photos and videos to their family and friends. CVLT would sometimes go through with their threats against victims who tried to escape their grip. CVLT is part of a larger network of extremist and child abusers active within similar online communities, referred to as “The Com”.

Extremely violent online communities manipulate children and young people

Violent online groups are targeting and manipulating vulnerable children and young people across widely accessible online platforms. There are multiple groups, associations and evolving subgroups that make up the online network known as The Com – short for community. The Com is a virtual community of groups and individuals who conduct illicit activities that glorify serious violence, cruelty, and gore.

Elements of The Com network are known to have extreme ideological views and victimise children, coercing them to commit violent acts. Predators groom their victims through different methods – one approach is establishing friendships based on trust or romantic relationships. Another technique involves the use of power or coercive tactics with one goal – taking control over the victims, while getting them to engage in serious violence, self-harm, or other gruesome. It’s a vicious cycle - the predators in this network influence children or young people into conducting acts that increasingly shame, incriminate, or isolate them, this in turn makes them more vulnerable to further exploitation.

Europol’s role in bringing investigations around the world closer together

Europol facilitates the exchange of information and provides analytical support to investigations into members of online communities targeted at child abuse and serious harm to vulnerable youth. At the end of January 2025, Europol hosted a three-day-long operational meeting related to The Com network of online child abusers. On the first day of the meeting, Europol connected 100 intelligence and police officers around the globe to exchange knowledge on the topic. During the meeting, 50 participants discussed cases to identify members active in these communities, and identify and safeguard their victims.