'My teenage daughter fell victim to a satanic online group – and I felt powerless to help'

When a 14-year-old girl began talking to other teenagers online, her mother was not too worried.

But within weeks, Christina (not her real name) found her daughter's behaviour had spiralled out of control.

Her daughter had fallen victim to the extreme online right-wing Satanist group called 764. These groups consist primarily of teenage boys and young men who want to harm girls.

At least four British teenagers have been arrested in connection with the activities of the international group, including 764 member Cameron Finnigan from Horsham in West Sussex. He was jailed for six years in January.

Christina says she believes her daughter was targeted by 764 after visiting a chat room where people were discussing self-harm.

The group persuades victims to carry out sexual acts, harm themselves and even attempt suicide during live video calls while its members watch.

Christina said a member of 764 had gained her daughter's trust before manipulating and coercing her.

She said: "I watched my mother get diagnosed with stage four breast cancer and fight for her life and it was not as hard to watch as it was to watch my daughter deteriorate.

"She deteriorated faster and worse than watching somebody essentially dying of cancer."

Christina said removing her daughter from 764's grip had been challenging.

"I kept going 'just block them, stop talking to them', but I was not seeing the level of influence that was already there, and the level of fear.

"They absolutely just beat her down to make her feel she is absolutely nothing without them or with them."

Christina and her daughter are slowly rebuilding their lives and she says she wants parents to understand the dangers these groups pose.

"My daughter stopped sleeping. She stopped eating," she said.

"As a mum I felt alone. I was scared, I was helpless [and] hopeless."

The National Crime Agency (NCA) considers groups like 764 to be one of "the most severe and serious online threats" it is dealing with.

Rob Richardson,  deputy threat lead for online child sexual abuse at the NCA, says members of such groups are getting younger and their crimes are under-reported.

"Being able to speak to the victims is often quite challenging from a law enforcement perspective," he said.

"Victims don't often recognize themselves as victims, so that makes it particularly difficult. Young girls are incredibly vulnerable.

"The advice to parents is show an interest in what they're doing online, using parental controls, and if possible try to have those non-judgmental conversations."

The Molly Rose Foundation, set up in memory of 14-year-old Molly Russell who died by suicide after being exposed to harmful content online, says it is alarmed by the "explosive growth" of groups like 764.

Andy Burrows, CEO of the foundation, said: "We know they are operating in plain sight on big platforms that most children in this country will be using every single day.

"These groups really are at the leading edge of the suicide and self-harm threat that our teenagers face."

The 764 network was founded in 2020 by a US teenager, Bradley Cadenhead, who was then 15. It is believed to have been named after the partial postal code of his hometown in Texas.

Police say it is part of an international network of far-right extremist groups which have adopted what officers call "militant accelerationist ideology".

In online chats Finnigan, who joined the 764 group after Christina's daughter was targeted, boasted to other members about his attempts to get children to hurt themselves.

After his arrest Finnigan, who was 18 at the time, was asked by police what he knew about 764.

Finnigan said: "They extort people of race, mental health problems or if they are mentally vulnerable for anybody to really use."

He pleaded guilty to encouraging suicide, and possessing a terrorism manual and indecent images of a child.

At his sentencing, Mr Justice Jay said Finnigan posed "a high risk of serious harm to the public".

Anti-terror police warn the group poses an "immense threat".

Since 2009, Counter Terrorism Policing South East has been responsible for co-ordinating the regional counter-terrorist response and providing specialist support to police forces in Hampshire, Kent, Surrey, Sussex and the Thames Valley.

Det Ch Supt Claire Finlay, head of the organisation, said: "The case of Cameron Finnigan has really shone a light on the grip that these online groups have.

"Part of this is just trying to make parents, carers, guardians more aware of the threat, and what young people are being drawn into."

Last year, the FBI released an unprecedented warning about 764, saying it "uses threats, blackmail, and manipulation to control the victims into recording or live-streaming self-harm, sexually explicit acts, and/or suicide".

The FBI has revealed it has opened investigations into 250 individuals affiliated with 764 and other online networks.

Arrests relating to 764 have been made for child abuse, kidnapping and murder in at least eight countries, including the UK.

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Speaking to the Assume Nothing: Creation of a Teenage Satanist podcast, a new BBC series exploring the 764 group, the senior investigating officer in Cameron Finnigan's case says he worries more young people may be influenced to commit violent crimes.

He said: "More and more of these people, who may have initially got involved with [764] because they thought it was fun to exploit vulnerable people or to do hoax bomb call, have actually then got radicalised within that group."