A 21-year-old man from High Point, North Carolina, who went by the online name “Trippy,” pleaded guilty in federal court in Washington, D.C., to conspiracy to sexually exploit minors, according to prosecutors. Prasan Nepal entered the plea before U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton in a case tied to 764, a violent extremist online network accused of targeting children across the country and abroad.
Who Is Prasan Nepal and What Did He Admit To
According to the Justice Department, Nepal pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit sexual exploitation of a child, as justice.gov reported. Prosecutors said Nepal was a senior leader of 764 and also served as a leader of a faction known as 764 Inferno. As WJLA reported, Nepal joined 764 in early 2021 and, according to court documents, became one of the network’s leaders after another member was arrested later that year.
Court documents indicate Nepal, alongside a co-defendant identified as Leonidas Varagiannis, helped direct 764’s membership, recruitment and content-production rules in the United States and abroad, and that the two directed the group’s rules from roughly 2021 through 2025, per the station’s reporting. Nepal is also accused of using the online aliases Leather Jacket, Rebirth, Indra’s Jester and KingKrampus, according to WJLA. A CourtListener docket lists a North Carolina arrest entry dated April 22, 2025, while a later entry says the arrest occurred April 23. Nepal later pleaded guilty Thursday, October 8, 2026.
What Prosecutors Say the Network Did to Children
Prosecutors allege 764 used encrypted online platforms both to recruit members and to identify vulnerable minors, then relied on threats, intimidation and manipulation to coerce victims into producing sexual and violent material, per the station. The network allegedly traded child sexual abuse material and other violent content through encrypted digital vaults, using that material to recruit new members and establish status within the group, according to the outlet’s reporting. Investigators identified at least eight minor victims, including children as young as 13, prosecutors said, according to WJLA.
U.S. Attorney Pirro said the case exposed a world where cruelty is currency, violence is entertainment, and children are treated as targets, per the outlet. Pirro also said Nepal and his co-conspirators built a deliberate campaign to corrupt vulnerable people, and warned that authorities will find and stop people who hide behind encrypted screens, according to the same report.
Inside the Broader 764 Network
764 is a global online network associated with exploitation, swatting and doxing, according to the Anti-Defamation League. The network has also targeted children through gaming platforms. GNET reports that 764 was created in 2021 by Bradley Cadenhead.
The FBI issued a public service announcement on September 12, 2023, warning about 764’s involvement in sextortion and the creation and distribution of child sexual exploitation material, according to GNET Research. Internal conflict and doxxing of members led to 764’s official dissolution and the creation of various offshoots between 2022 and 2023, the same research organization reports. The FBI says it is investigating more than 500 people nationwide with links to the violent online network, according to NBC News.
A Pattern of Prosecutions Across the Country
Nepal’s case is not isolated. NBC News reported that a 17-year-old from Maine with ties to 764 was sentenced to prison for sexually exploiting children, in what the FBI’s Boston office described as the first time a juvenile was charged in federal court with crimes carried out as part of online nihilistic groups connected to the network. That teenager was convicted of conspiring to sexually exploit a child, sexual exploitation and enticement of a child, cyberstalking and identity theft, per NBC News.
In Los Angeles, three men — Jose Henry Ayala Casimiro, Dong Hwan Kim and Bryant Najera Gonzalez — have faced child pornography charges in the Central District of California tied to 764-related activity and have taken plea deals, according to the Los Angeles Times. Ayala pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography and one count of possession, the Times reported. The paper also noted that the FBI has more than 500 investigations open into this type of online predation and that violent online groups have allegedly abused hundreds of mostly female minor victims worldwide, according to Homeland Security Investigations, with perpetrators typically targeting underage girls between ages 10 and 17, often minors already struggling with mental health.
Co-Defendant Still Awaiting Extradition
Nepal’s alleged co-director, Leonidas Varagiannis, is being held at Grevena Prison in northern Greece and faces charges related to child pornography and participation in a criminal organization, according to WJLA. Varagiannis is expected to stand trial within the next six months, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Euronews reported that Varagiannis has denied the allegations and opposed extradition, and that he was to remain in custody pending a ruling from a Greek court of appeals on the U.S. extradition request.
The investigation into Nepal was led by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, which received assistance from FBI offices in New York and Charlotte as well as international law enforcement partners, according to WJLA’s reporting on the Justice Department’s announcement. Nepal has pleaded guilty, but a sentencing date was not immediately available.
