The FBI confirms 250-plus active ‘764’ network-tied cases across its 55 U.S. field offices, and they want parents to know what children might be exposed to online.
STEPHENVILLE, Texas — An online network that targets teens – mostly girls – and extorts them into performing horrible acts got its start with a troubled North Texas teen.
Even though that teen was sent to prison, the network he launched has continued to thrive in his absence. The FBI now says the network is more dangerous than ever, and that parents should be on alert.
It’s one of the darkest threats the FBI has ever faced – “764”, a secretive online network where power is measured in pain, and kids are the targets.
“You’re talking about a network of people that is, according to the FBI, potentially a national security threat,” said Pierre Thomas, ABC’s chief justice correspondent.
Even more concerning is that the network started about 90 miles southwest of Dallas in Stephenville, Texas. Investigators say Bradley Cadenhead, now 19, started “764”- a reference to Stephenville’s 76401 and 76402 zip codes—when he was 15 years old.
“We see a lot of bad things… but this is one of the most disturbing things we’re seeing,” said FBI Assistant Director David Scott, the head of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division in Washington.
By 17, Cadenhead pleaded guilty in Erath County to nine felony counts of possession and promotion of child pornography. He’s currently serving more than 70 years at the Estelle Unit in East Texas. Cadenhead’s attorneys are appealing his sentence, arguing that he was severely abused and neglected as a child, and that he had untreated bipolar disorder.
“He had a very troubled youth,” said Robbie Manson, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Dallas FBI. “He was in and out of juvenile detention.”
Court records show that Cadenhead told authorities he started the network to gain attention after he said he was bullied at school. A forensic psychologist’s report included in Erath County court documents said Cadenhead began watching gory online videos, and enjoyed the reaction he got when he showed them to other people. He and others then began coercing people in online communities to harm themselves.
Federal agents say the “764” predators don’t lurk in the shadows — they show up where kids already are, on gaming apps and social media sites. And while their targets can be any youth between 10 and 17, the network typically focuses on young girls.
“It usually begins as kind of what we call ‘love bombing’, where they’ll quickly fall in love with them or act like they’re falling in love with them,” Manson said. “They’ll send them gifts.”
But soon the predators start asking the victim to start sharing naked photos or commit violent acts. Then they blackmail their victims.
“We call it sextortion,” Manson said. “The predator will seek to expose them if they don’t perform.”
One family in Connecticut, who spoke with ABC on the condition of anonymity, said their daughter thought she was in a relationship with her predator. Instead, they said, she was being groomed — and fully controlled by the “764” network.
“I wanted to scream, ‘Not my child!” said her mother. “But it does happen.”
Added her father: “She was on the honor roll. Then, slowly… she became kind of like a hermit.”
Court documents reveal the disturbing depths of the Cadenhead case. His devices contained videos of child porn, mutilation and chat logs that encouraged suicide and abuse.
After Cadenhead was imprisoned, his stature online continued to grow, and authorities say “764” adherents are still wreaking havoc. Members gain status among their network peers by how many violent acts they commit.
“Some of the [most] heinous stuff that you’ll ever see, and it’s happening to children,” Manson said. “It’s frankly inexplicable, the depravity.”
The FBI now confirms there are more than 250 active cases tied to the “764” network, with investigations spanning all 55 field offices in the U.S. Due to their findings, the bureau is now warning the public to be aware of what their children might be exposed to on social media and gaming platforms.
The FBI’s latest public alert on networks like “764” urges parents and caregivers to look for these warning signs in teens:
- Sudden behavior changes such as becoming withdrawn, moody, or irritable.
- Sudden changes in appearance, especially neglect of appearance.
- Changes in eating or sleeping habits.
- Dropping out of activities and becoming more isolated and withdrawn.
- A new online “friend” or network prospective victims seem infatuated with and/or scared of.
- Receipt of anonymous gifts, such as items delivered to your home, currency, gaming currency or other virtual items.
- Scars, often in patterns.
- Fresh cuts, scratches, bruises, bite marks, burns, or other wounds.
- Carvings, such as words or symbols, on the skin.
- Wearing long sleeves or pants in hot weather.
- Writing in blood or what appears to be blood.
- Threatening to commit suicide and openly talking about death, not being wanted or needed, or not being around.
- Idealization of mass shootings or mass casualty events.
- Family pets or other animals being harmed or dying under suspicious circumstances.
- Family pets uncharacteristically avoid or are fearful of your child or you.
- Law enforcement being called to the home under false pretenses (known as swatted or doxxed) by an unknown person.
The FBI says that if you believe you are the victim of a crime using these tactics, retain all information regarding the incident (e.g., usernames, email addresses, websites or names of platforms used for communication, photos, videos, etc.) and immediately report it to: