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The_Info_Web/40 - EVENTS/United States v. Rane et al. (2-25-cr-00040).md

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Crime Investigation
Event
FederalCase
CVLT
ChildExploitation
CSAM
ChildExploitationEnterprise
CentralDistrictCalifornia
FederalProsecution
2026-05-22 2026-10-09 United States v. Rane et al. (2:25-cr-00040) is the Central District of California federal prosecution of four CVLT leaders charged in January 2025 with engaging in a child exploitation enterprise under 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(g).

United States v. Rane et al., 2:25-cr-00040, is the federal criminal case prosecuted in the Central District of California before United States District Judge Hernan D. Vera against four members of CVLT, the online child exploitation network that operated from at least 2019 to 2022.

Indictment

A federal grand jury returned the indictment on January 17, 2025. The indictment was unsealed on January 30, 2025, the day Walker and Borge were arrested.1 The investigating agencies were Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles, HSI Cherry Hill (New Jersey), and HSI Honolulu, with cooperation from the Los Angeles Police Department, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office, Henry County Sheriff's Office (Virginia), Iowa State University Police Department, and Police Nationale (France).

The indictment named four defendants: Rohan Rane (Rohan Sandeep Rane, born 1996, Antibes, France), Kaleb Merritt (Kaleb Christopher Merritt, born approximately 2000, Spring, Texas), Clint Borge (Clint Jordan Lopaka Nahooikaika Borge, born 1983, Pahoa, Hawaii), and Collin Walker (Collin John Thomas Walker, born 2001, Bridgeton, New Jersey).2

The indictment charged all four defendants in a single count of engaging in a child exploitation enterprise under 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(g). The enterprise charged covered conduct from at least 2019 to 2022. The indictment alleged at least 16 minor victims worldwide, with at least two in Southern California. Two unnamed minor co-conspirators were also referenced, one of whom was also described as a victim.2

Statutory Theory

The child exploitation enterprise statute, 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(g), requires proof that the defendant: (1) violated underlying child exploitation statutes (including production and distribution of child pornography and sexual exploitation of minors under Chapters 109A, 110, or 117 of Title 18); (2) as part of a series of three or more separate felony violations; (3) involving more than one victim; and (4) in concert with three or more other persons. The mandatory minimum sentence upon conviction is 20 years; the maximum is life imprisonment.

DOJ applied the same statute in the more recent 764 Network prosecutions, including United States v. Nepal and Varagiannis (D.D.C. No. 1:25-cr-00304; leading 764 Inferno)3 and United States v. Martin (the first terrorism-enhanced 764 prosecution). The CVLT case was the first application of the enterprise theory to the CVLT organizational lineage.4

Arrests and Initial Appearances

When the indictment was unsealed, Rane remained in French custody. Merritt was already incarcerated at Pocahontas State Correctional Center, Virginia. Walker was arrested by HSI Cherry Hill in New Jersey, appeared in court, was assigned counsel, and was remanded to U.S. Marshals. Borge was arrested by HSI in Hawaii on January 30, 2025. He appeared in Honolulu before Magistrate Judge Rom Trader on January 31, and Magistrate Judge Wes Reber Porter ordered him detained on February 4, 2025 and committed him to the Central District of California; a Los Angeles magistrate judge held a contested detention hearing on March 3, 2025 and ordered him permanently detained.567

Plea Record and Sentencing Schedule

  • Collin Walker: guilty plea, October 2025. Sentencing continued from January 29, 2026 to May 28, 2026 by order of December 5, 2025.8
  • Clint Borge: guilty plea December 17, 2025 before Judge Hernan D. Vera. Sentencing set for March 12, 2026; a March 26, 2026 DOJ release said he and Walker were expected to be sentenced in the coming months.910
  • Kaleb Merritt: guilty plea, March 26, 2026. Sentencing scheduled January 7, 2027.
  • Rohan Rane: no U.S. plea entered; in French custody pending extradition.11

Connection to 764 Prosecution Wave

The CVLT indictment was part of the DOJ's multi-case prosecution campaign against The Com and its predecessor networks. The enterprise statute theory used in 2:25-cr-00040 was the same framework applied in the contemporaneous prosecution of Leonidas Varagiannis and Prasan Nepal for leading 764 Inferno. NCITE documented 31 individuals publicly charged with federal crimes across CVLT, Greggy's Cult, and 764 as of December 2025, treating them as a connected prosecutorial lineage.12

Footnotes

  1. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs. "Four Members of Online Neo-Nazi Group that Exploited Minors Charged with Producing Child Sexual Abuse Material." Press Release 25-123, January 30, 2025. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/four-members-online-neo-nazi-group-exploited-minors-charged-producing-child-sexual-abuse ↩︎

  2. United States v. Rane et al., 2:25-cr-00040 (C.D. Cal.), CourtListener. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69613728/united-states-v-rane/; DOJ OPA. "Four Members of Online Neo-Nazi Group that Exploited Minors Charged with Producing Child Sexual Abuse Material." February 2025. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/four-members-online-neo-nazi-group-exploited-minors-charged-producing-child-sexual-abuse ↩︎

  3. Indictment, United States v. Prasan Nepal and Leonidas Varagiannis, No. 1:25-cr-00304-RBW (D.D.C.), Doc. 19, filed September 26, 2025, cover page. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.285418/gov.uscourts.dcd.285418.19.0.pdf ↩︎

  4. HSI. "HSI Los Angeles, Cherry Hill, and Honolulu special agents arrest members of online neo-Nazi group on child exploitation enterprise charges." February 2025. https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/hsi-los-angeles-cherry-hill-and-honolulu-special-agents-arrest-members-online-neo; 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(g), Cornell LII. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2252A ↩︎

  5. Hawaii Tribune-Herald. "Judge: No bail for alleged CVLT member from Pahoa." February 6, 2025. https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2025/02/06/hawaii-news/judge-no-bail-for-alleged-cvlt-member-from-pahoa/ ↩︎

  6. United States v. Borge, No. 1:25-mj-00062-RT (D. Haw.), docket and minutes, filed as Doc. 18 in No. 2:25-cr-00040-HDV (C.D. Cal.). https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.954685/gov.uscourts.cacd.954685.18.0_1.pdf ↩︎

  7. United States v. Rane et al., No. 2:25-cr-00040-HDV (C.D. Cal.), Doc. 50 (minutes, March 3, 2025). https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.954685/gov.uscourts.cacd.954685.50.0.pdf ↩︎

  8. Docket, United States v. Rane, No. 2:25-cr-00040 (C.D. Cal.), entry 91 (December 5, 2025), order continuing Walker's sentencing to May 28, 2026. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69613728/united-states-v-rane/ ↩︎

  9. Criminal minutes, change of plea hearing, December 17, 2025, United States v. Rane et al., No. 2:25-cr-00040-HDV (C.D. Cal.), Doc. 95. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.954685/gov.uscourts.cacd.954685.95.0.pdf ↩︎

  10. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs. "Man Pleads Guilty to Participating in Online Neo-Nazi Group that Exploited Children into Producing Child Sexual Abuse Material." Press Release 26-294, March 26, 2026. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/man-pleads-guilty-participating-online-neo-nazi-group-exploited-children-producing-child ↩︎

  11. DOJ OPA. "Man Pleads Guilty to Participating in Online Neo-Nazi Group that Exploited Children into Producing Child Sexual Abuse Material." March 2026. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/man-pleads-guilty-participating-online-neo-nazi-group-exploited-children-producing-child ↩︎

  12. NCITE. "Prosecuting 764: An Examination of Federal and State Charges." December 2025. https://www.unomaha.edu/ncite/news/2025/12/764-landing-page.php ↩︎