It’s the sort of nightmare scenario that makes social media such a terrifying prospect for parents all over the world.
And while it might sound like a cautionary old wives’ tale, this story is as real as the damage it’s caused to a young girl in New Jersey.
Marek Cherkaoui, 21, was arrested on federal cyberstalking charges in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey this week.
Middle school-aged victim was reportedly targeted by online terror group
According to a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, Cherkaoui harassed and threatened to dox a 13-year-old girl, eventually coercing her into cutting herself on a livestream.
Cherkaoui allegedly has ties to the 764 network of “nihilist violent extremists,” aka NVEs, which targets young people for harassment with the goal of causing them to harm themselves.
According to People, the victim blocked Cherkaoui after he blackmailed her into cutting herself the first time.
She explained in a social media post that she had harmed herself because she was afraid of how angry her parents would be if her house was doxed by strangers.
Investigators say Cherkaoui got around the block and messaged the victim:
“YOU NEED TО DO IT AGAIN. THIS TIME DO IT LIVE ON CAMERA.”
The threats escalated until Cherkaoui allegedly coerced the victim into cutting herself again. Police believe the girl was not his first target.
“YOU DESERVED IT HАHА… IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN AND AGAIN UNTIL YOU FINALLY COMMIT [suicide],” he allegedly wrote to a victim of sexual abuse.
“HEY GUYS IT LOOKS LIKE WE ACTUALLY KILLED A PERSON,” he boasted to another 764 member after receiving false information that that person had died by suicide.
In a post from September, Cherkaoui explained that 764 targets minority children because they feel it’s “better for them to be removed when they’re young before they grow up and become a bigger problem …. They marginalized [i.e., minority] kids are a very good high-value soft target.”
According to a new report from ABC News, 764 is also suspected in the death of Jay Taylor, a 13-year-old Seattle resident who livestreamed his suicide earlier this year.
The group is also tied to a case in Detroit involving “brutal and gruesome videos of animal torture.”
According to the FBI, 764 was started by Bradley Cadenhead, a 15-year-old in Stephenville, Texas, who named the group after the first three digits of his ZIP code.
“We’ve looked at violent crimes against children for many years, but this just takes it to a whole different level,” the former head of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division, David Scott, recently tells ABC.
No trial date has been set for Marek Cherkaoui. We will have further updates on this developing story as new information becomes available.