28 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
28 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
---
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category: "Extremism & Violent Networks"
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tags:
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- GreggyCult
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- ChildExploitation
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- NVE
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- Online
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- USA
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start: 2020
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end: 2021
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location: Online (United States)
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created: 2026-05-21
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updated: 2026-05-21
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summary: Greggy's Cult was an online child exploitation network that operated on Discord from January 2020 to January 2021, using blackmail and CSAM coercion methods that directly informed the founding of 764.
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---
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[[Greggy's Cult]] (also called the "Cult of Greg") was an online child exploitation network that operated primarily on [[Discord]] and gaming platforms from approximately January 2020 through January 2021. It recruited minor victims through gaming servers and social media, coerced them into producing [[CSAM]] (child sexual abuse material) through blackmail and psychological manipulation, and demanded ongoing self-harm through the same coercive mechanisms. These methods became the operational template for the [[764 Network]], which emerged in late 2020 and early 2021. [[NCITE]] (National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center at the University of Nebraska Omaha) tracked 31 individuals publicly charged with federal crimes across Greggy's Cult, [[CVLT]], and 764 as of December 2025, treating the three as a connected prosecutorial and organizational lineage.[^1]
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### 764 Founding Lineage
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[[Bradley Chance Cadenhead|Bradley Cadenhead]], who founded 764 as a 15-year-old in Stephenville, Texas, was connected to Greggy's Cult before building 764. The operational model Cadenhead established for 764 - recruitment through gaming platforms, CSAM coercion, blackmail, demands for self-harm - directly mirrored Greggy's Cult's methods. Law enforcement and researchers describe Greggy's Cult as one of the "predecessor groups" that "helped spawn" 764, alongside [[CVLT]].
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[[Rumaldo Valdez]], a U.S. Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class stationed in Wahiawa, Hawaii, was a documented Greggy's Cult member. His devices contained CSAM described in federal sentencing documents as among "the most extreme child-abuse images in existence." Valdez was sentenced to 97 months in federal prison in March 2026 and faces additional charges in the [[Eastern District of New York]] alongside four co-defendants including [[Camden Rodriguez]], [[Zachary Dosch]], [[David Brilhante]], and [[Hector Bermudez]].[^2]
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: NCITE. "Prosecuting Nihilistic Violent Extremism: An Examination of Federal and State Charges Against 764 and Related Networks." University of Nebraska Omaha, December 2025. https://www.unomaha.edu/ncite/news/2025/12/764-landing-page.php
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[^2]: ABC News. "DOJ charges former Navy petty officer, 4 others in child exploitation case." https://abcnews.com/US/doj-charges-former-navy-petty-officer-4-alleged/story?id=128072704
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