One of the leaders of a depraved online network that hunted vulnerable children has pleaded guilty, and the Trump administration is promising that the predators who hide behind screens will not stay hidden forever.
Prasan Nepal, 21, also known online as “Trippy,” admitted in federal court that he conspired to sexually exploit a child while serving as a senior leader of the violent extremist network known as 764.
The network’s methods were as calculated as they were sickening. Members used encrypted platforms to identify children, manipulate them, collect compromising material, and then use threats and extortion to demand more abuse.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina, Nepal and his co-conspirators exploited at least eight minors, some as young as 13. The conspirators found victims online and used private communications to isolate and control them.
He now faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and a maximum of 30 years. Sentencing is scheduled for March 5, 2027.
Nepal admitted that the conspiracy ran from roughly 2022 through April 2025. Prosecutors said members used online communications to pressure victims into producing material and carrying out increasingly dangerous demands.
The guilty plea resolves the conspiracy charge against Nepal, but the wider investigation remains focused on identifying other members and protecting children still at risk. Nepal will remain in federal custody while he awaits sentencing.
764 TARGETS CHILDREN. THIS FBI TARGETS 764.
Prasan Nepal, a leader of this depraved network, has PLEADED GUILTY to exploiting children and recruiting others into horrific abuse.
764-related arrests UP NEARLY 500% last year.
To every predator hiding behind a screen: We are…
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) October 8, 2026
FBI Director Kash Patel put the mission in the clearest possible terms: “764 targets children. This FBI targets 764.”
Patel said 764-related arrests increased by nearly 500 percent over the last year. That jump shows federal investigators are learning how these networks recruit and communicate.
It also shows agents are getting better at following groups that fragment and reappear under new names.
The danger begins with how deliberately the group searches for victims.
Investigators say 764 participants targeted children struggling with depression, insecurity, or difficult home lives. They built trust, encouraged dependence, and then turned private conversations into instruments of control.
Once the group obtained compromising material, members threatened to expose it unless the child obeyed escalating demands. Prosecutors described coercion involving self-harm, sexual acts, animal abuse, and threats of violence.
The network sought to break victims psychologically, create material that could be circulated among members, and recruit others into a culture built around cruelty.
BREAKING: 764 leader Prasan Nepal pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sexually exploit a child. His network's guide said to target girls with depression. Know the warning signs. Report: https://t.co/toUhFstej9 pic.twitter.com/I3YnpMRWsp
— DeliverFund (@DeliverFund) October 9, 2026
Nepal’s plea is important because prosecutors identified him as a core leader who helped direct the network.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said Nepal led the group through April 2025. He and co-defendant Leonidas Varagiannis, known online as “War,” were described as leaders of both 764 and an inner subgroup called 764 Inferno.
Varagiannis is currently in prison in Greece while facing related allegations. His case shows how widely the network spread beyond the United States.
Federal prosecutors said Nepal maintained his leadership role until his arrest in April 2025. The two men were charged after investigators traced activity tied to the network across platforms and national borders.
The prosecution also relied on cooperation between U.S. agencies and foreign authorities, a necessity when defendants, victims, and digital evidence can be spread across several countries. Investigators had to connect online identities to real people before arrests could follow.
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The case illustrates why old assumptions about child predators no longer work. A dangerous network does not need a headquarters, matching uniforms, or members living in the same country.
It can operate through chat rooms, encrypted applications, constantly changing accounts, and a shared appetite for destruction.
That makes the people running these networks harder to find, but not untouchable.
NEW – 764 leader Prasan Nepal aka "Trippy" has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sexually exploit children.
Nepal was arrested alongside Leonidas Varagiannis aka "War" in 2025. Together, the two 764 members served as core leaders of 764 and its inner subgroup, 764 Inferno.… pic.twitter.com/BDpScaVIXK
— Bx (@bx_on_x) October 8, 2026
The prosecution was built through cooperation among the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, federal prosecutors, and international partners. That is exactly the kind of sustained pressure required when an extremist network crosses borders and shifts between platforms.
Parents should take the case as a warning, too. Predators do not always begin with overt threats.
They may begin with sympathy, attention, or a claim that they understand a child better than anyone else.
Sudden secrecy around devices, fear tied to a particular account, unexplained demands for money, self-harm, or withdrawal from family can all signal that something is wrong. A child caught in an extortion scheme needs protection and immediate help, not shame.
The guilty plea will not erase what Nepal and his network inflicted. It does, however, break the illusion that encrypted messages and anonymous handles place these criminals beyond the reach of American justice.
The Trump administration has put the network on notice. The FBI is identifying its leaders, following its digital trail, working across borders, and turning anonymous screen names into defendants standing before a judge.
For the predators of 764, that is the message that matters most: the screen is not a shield, and the knock at the door can still come.
