LOS ANGELES – If you or someone you know needs support now, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.<\/p>\n
Federal authorities have arrested an 18-year-old Pennsylvania<\/a> man for allegedly grooming a 13-year-old Los Angeles<\/a> girl and coercing her into acts of self-harm and sexual exploitation.\u00a0<\/p>\n The case has highlighted the emergence of a “disturbing” online ideology known as nihilistic violent extremism (NVE), which law enforcement officials describe as a growing threat to families.<\/p>\n What we know:<\/p>\n Matthew Edward Pysher of Bangor, Pennsylvania, was taken into custody late Friday at a motel in Castaic, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California.<\/p>\n Prosecutors allege Pysher met the victim on a Discord server for individuals suffering from mental illness and groomed her from December 2025 until his arrest.\u00a0<\/p>\n On February 20, he flew from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, met the girl near her home, and took her to a motel where law enforcement eventually found them with a knife, razor blades, and bloody tissues, officials said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Pysher is charged with travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.<\/p>\n What we don’t know:<\/p>\n While the FBI has linked Pysher to NVE groups like “764,” the full extent of his involvement with other members or similar extremist networks is still under investigation.\u00a0<\/p>\n It remains unclear how many other minors may have been targeted by this specific network or if Pysher has additional victims in other states.<\/p>\n What they’re saying:<\/p>\n First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli described the ideology as “evil and sadistic,” stating, “They look for kids who are depressed and vulnerable… it is a very sick and twisted ideology.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Akil Davis, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI\u2019s Los Angeles Field Office, added that Pysher is part of a “growing number of alleged nihilistic violent extremists who prey on children.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert G. Luna<\/a> credited the “decisive action of a vigilant mother” for the safe recovery of the child.<\/p>\n What’s next:<\/p>\n Pysher faces a maximum of 30 years in federal prison if convicted of the felony charge.\u00a0<\/p>\n What you can do:<\/p>\n Law enforcement officials are urging parents to monitor their children’s online activity closely.\u00a0<\/p>\n Essayli advised, “If your children have access to use the internet, sadistic predators may have access to your kids… We advise parents to keep their kids offline.” If you suspect a child is being groomed or encouraged to self-harm online, contact the FBI or local law enforcement immediately.<\/p>\n The Source: This report is based on information from a federal criminal complaint and affidavit filed in U.S. District Court, as well as official statements made by the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office and the FBI during a Monday news conference.<\/p>\n Crime and Public Safety<\/a>Pennsylvania<\/a>California<\/a>Los Angeles<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES – If you or someone you know needs support now, call or text 988 or chat…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":190502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1184,2042,48,52,51,47,137,50,49,100,24429,1181],"class_list":["post-190501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-ca","tag-crime-publicsafety","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-news","tag-pa","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}