Officials in the Mississippi Pine Belt are warning parents to beware of an international child exploitation cult seeking to groom local youth.
“764,” a group labeled by the Department of Justice as a “terror network,” is reported to be targeting children, especially those with mental health challenges. The group was founded by then-15-year-old Bradley Chance Cadenhead of Texas, who went by the online alias “Felix” on the instant messaging platform Discord.
Cadenhead, who was bullied as a young child, reportedly used his position in the “decentralized Satanist, neo-Nazi” cult to engage in sextortion and doxxing, or collecting and disseminating someone’s personal information to defame that person online.
Though Cadenhead is currently serving an 80-year prison sentence for possessing child pornography, the terror cult he founded remains active online. 764 operatives reportedly pressure young people into committing acts of self-harm, harming animals, and sending nude images of themselves, among other heinous acts. Sometimes, group members’ primary goal is to coerce their prey into dying by suicide.
In Mississippi, law enforcement authorities are asking parents to be on the alert for potential predators lurking around online, targeting their young ones. Officials say 764 operators are all over the place, including harmless interactive games like Minecraft and Roblox.
“When your kids come in day to day, you need to know what your children are doing, be involved. It takes less than 10 to 15 minutes of your time to just talk to your children every day and see how they’re doing,” Perry County investigator James Burch told WHLT.
“Check, go in their rooms. You’ve got to be vigilant. Parents are going to have to start stepping up and being a part of this, because like I said before, we can’t police everybody’s child.”
In late April, two major 764 members were arrested by the FBI. Federal officials remain dedicated to shutting the dangerous group down. However, parents can play an even more vital role in shielding vulnerable children from evil actors.
