03/13/2024

Predatory Groups Coerce Children into Self-harm on Popular Online Platforms

Observe your children's behaviors when you can

Editor’s note: This story describes extremely disturbing events that may be upsetting for some people.

The person in the online chat introduced himself as “Brad.” Using flattery and guile, he persuaded the 14-year-old girl to send a nude photo. It instantly became leverage.

Over the following two weeks in April 2021, he and other online predators threatened to send the image to the girl’s classmates in Oklahoma unless she live-streamed degrading and violent acts, the girl’s mother told The Washington Post.

They coerced her into carving their screen names deep into her thigh, drinking from a toilet bowl and beheading a pet hamster — all as they watched in a video chatroom on the social media platform Discord.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.