CASTAIC, Calif. — A local 13-year-old girl was rescued from a Pennsylvania man who allegedly found her online and targeted her as part of a cult, flying cross-country to commit horrific acts of violence against the teen girl.
The life-saving operation involving local and federal law enforcement rescued the girl from a Castaic, California motel room on Friday. Authorities said the teenage girl from Los Angeles was with an 18-year-old man who is tied to a violent extremist group that allegedly coerces and manipulates children into horrific acts.
The girl was reportedly on the verge of suicide.
First assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli called it “one of the most twisted and disturbing ideas to crawl out of the internet.”
Court documents say Matthew Pysher began messaging the girl on Discord two months ago, finding her on a server about mental health.
When he started messaging her privately, officials described deeply disturbing requests. Pysher allegedly groomed the girl into sending him sexually explicit images and encouraged her to send him pictures of her cutting herself.
“You could see here in the final message, he tells her, ‘You can go as deep or shallow as you want. I love scratches, cuts and pretty much anything else,'” Essayli said.
The victim’s mother discovered the messages and called police, but the situation escalated when the girl ran away and left behind a suicide note.
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Police were able to track the Discord account to Pysher and found him in a Castaic motel room with the young girl, who police say he had cut, choked, assaulted and made a plan to die by suicide together later that day. Court records indicate he planned to find a tall building for the two to jump off of.
“The victim told law enforcement that he had engaged in sexual conduct with her, and that he used a knife to repeatedly cut her, and that he also choked her to the point she couldn’t speak,” Essayli said.
“The only thing more tragic would be is if we were reporting her death,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.
The teen girl is now safe.
Investigators say Psyher’s sadistic behavior is evidence of nihilistic, violent extremism (NVE) and a group known as “764,” which is an online extremist network of members that want to destroy civilized society, targeting children for sexual exploitation and self-harm.
“NVEs are associated with individuals who engage in criminal conduct within the United States to further goals that derive mainly from a hatred of society,” Essayli said.
The FBI says it is investigating more than 450 cases involving the ideology, leaving parents with an urgent warning.
“Any child with access to the internet is a sitting duck for these sick, deranged and demonic individuals looking to harm your children,” Essayli said.
Psyher is federally charged with traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. It’s a felony punishable by up to 30 years in federal prison.
Investigators say this is the second case involving the sadistic ideology in Southern California in the past week alone.
“Please stay engaged with your children. Monitor their online activities,” FBI assistant director in charge Akil Davis said.
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or are worried about a friend or loved one, help is available. Call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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