Key facts
- Predators are targeting vulnerable teens on social media and online games, coercing them into producing CSAM or harming themselves.
- The NCMEC received over 3,000 reports of sadistic online exploitation globally in 2025, a 125% increase from the previous year.
- Perpetrators often belong to online networks, including teens and young adults, and use platforms like Roblox, Minecraft, and Telegram.
- Abuses can escalate to self-harm, harm to others, and in extreme cases, suicide.
- The FBI has warned of a sharp increase in activity from violent online networks, such as the "764" group.
- Recent cases include the sentencing of a Maryland man for exploiting minors and the arrest of a Pennsylvania man for grooming.
Child safety experts and law enforcement officials are sounding the alarm over a significant global increase in "sadistic online exploitation," a disturbing phenomenon where predators coerce vulnerable children into creating and sharing abusive material or engaging in self-harm.
These perpetrators typically target teens on social media platforms and online games, using grooming tactics to gain their trust. They then leverage explicit imagery or personal information to manipulate victims into inflicting harm on themselves, others, or creating more abusive content. Cases have involved forcing children to self-mutilate, consume bodily fluids, or even commit suicide.
The National Center of Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) reported over 3,000 cases of sadistic online exploitation worldwide in 2025, a 125% increase from the prior year. Experts note this figure likely represents a fraction of the actual incidents, as NCMEC is primarily notified when CSAM is detected.
Perpetrators often operate within online networks, sometimes being teens or young adults themselves. They recruit victims through popular games like Roblox and Minecraft, and by targeting social media groups focused on mental health issues such as eating disorders or suicidal ideation. Messaging apps like Telegram are frequently used to facilitate these exploitative conversations, as they offer less oversight.
Recent incidents highlight the severity of the issue. A 21-year-old Maryland man was sentenced to 30 years for exploiting 10 minors, using extreme content to extort and blackmail them, and encouraging self-harm. The FBI has also warned of increased activity from violent online networks, including the "764" group, which is motivated by nihilistic violent extremism and seeks to sow chaos.
Perpetrators often gain notoriety and status within their online groups by collecting and sharing evidence of their abuse, referred to as "lore books." These groups, some with roots in neo-Nazism and nihilism, focus on harming children for clout and power. The exploitation can escalate to real-world violence, as seen in the arrest of a Pennsylvania man who groomed a minor and engaged in sexual activity, with evidence of self-harm found at the scene.