FBI has opened 250 investigations tied to violent online network '764' that preys on teens, top official says

FBI officials say they are growing increasingly concerned about a loose network of violent predators who befriend teenagers through popular online platforms and then coerce them into escalating sexual and violent behavior -- pushing victims to create graphic pornography, harm family pets, cut themselves with sharp objects, or even die by suicide.

The online predators, part of the network known as "764," demand victims send them photos and videos of it all, so the shocking content can be shared with fellow 764 followers or used to extort victims for more. Some of the predators even host "watch parties" for others to watch them torment victims live online, according to authorities.

The FBI has more than 250 such investigations currently underway, with every single one of its 55 field offices across the country handling a 764-related case, Scott told ABC News in an exclusive interview.

As [FBI Assistant Director] Scott described it, one of the main goals of 764 and similar networks is to "sow chaos" and "bring down society."

That's why the FBI's Counterterrorism Division and the Justice Department's National Security Division are now looking at 764 and its offshoots as a potential form of domestic terrorism, even coining a new term to characterize the most heinous actors: "nihilistic violent extremists."

Though charging documents don't identify the founder by name, federal law enforcement sources identified him to ABC News as Bradley Cadenhead, who is serving an 80-year-prison sentence in Texas after pleading guilty to several child pornography-related charges in 2023.

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For more than three years, Colby and Leslie Taylor have quietly waited for the day that justice would be delivered for their 13-year-old son, Jay, who in early 2022 was allegedly pushed into killing himself -- and streaming it live on social media -- by an online tormentor associated with the extremist network known as "764."

But five weeks ago, authorities nearly 5,000 miles away in Germany, where the alleged online tormentor lives, filed murder charges against him, alleging that the 20-year-old medical student abused more than 30 kids online, and left one American, Jay Taylor, dead.

Were it not for a teenage girl in Australia, more than 7,000 miles away, Jay's parents would have never known what really happened to their child.

In the hours after Jay's death, the teen in Australia ended up in another online chat with "White Tiger" and others, who she said were sharing recordings of the suicide and joking about it.

"I couldn't just do nothing about it," she told ABC News, requesting that her name not be used out of fear of reprisal. [She found Jay's dad online, sent him the video, and then dad went to the police, and then on to the FBI.]

"They're seeking the end of the world," corrupting future generations and desensitizing them to violence and gore, explained Pat McMonigle, who until he retired from the FBI last year was one of the agents investigating Jay Taylor's case.

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Authorities say the group, "Greggy's Cult," later helped spawn the 764 network.

For much of the past year, federal authorities have been issuing similar warnings about online predators operating much like "Greggy's Cult," especially members of the online extremist network 764, who often extort young victims into self-harm but also desensitize them with neo-Nazi or other extremist propaganda and push victims to commit extreme acts of violence against others, including mass shootings.