PHOENIX — A southern Arizona man has been indicted on 29 counts related to an online child exploitation scheme that authorities described as “unthinkably depraved” in a Thursday announcement.
Baron Cain Martin, 21, of Tucson, is accused of being the owner of a group of nihilistic violent extremists called “764” that encouraged minors, who were mainly teenage girls, to harm themselves and participate in child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on social media, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The group aims to normalize CSAM and gore material in order to groom victims, entice them to commit violence in the future, gain notoriety, spread fear and disrupt society, according to prosecutors.
“This man’s alleged crimes are unthinkably depraved and reflect the horrific danger of 764,” U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a press release. “If convicted, he will face severe consequences as we work to dismantle this evil network.”
What charges was alleged leader of ‘764’ indicted on?
Charges against Martin in the indictment include:
- Participating in a child exploitation enterprise
- Conspiring to provide material support to terrorists
- Conspiring to kill, kidnap or maim persons in a foreign country
- Producing child pornography
- Distributing child pornography
- Coercing and enticing minors to engage in sexual activity
- Cyberstalking
- Animal crushing
- Distribution of animal crush videos
- Conspiracy to commit wire fraud
Several of the counts carry maximum penalties of life in prison. The charges also each include a fine of up to $250,000 and a lifetime of supervised release.
Martin was arrested last December and has remained in federal custody since then.
What is alleged leader of ‘764’ accused of?
The indictment alleges that beginning in 2019, Martin, using the online alias “Convict,” coerced multiple victims to create child pornography, extortion videos and animal crushing videos.
When he was arrested, authorities said he used Discord, an instant messaging and social platform, to commit his crimes.
Martin allegedly referred to himself as the “king of extortion,” bragged that he taught 764 members how to extort victims and claimed that he was “the catalyst for thousands of extortions.”
He also allegedly shared a detailed guide that told members how to identify, groom and extort vulnerable juveniles, prosecutors said.
“The defendant’s alleged actions in this case are an assault on the basic foundations of human decency,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona Timothy Courchaine said. “While cowardly hiding his identity behind a screen and a moniker, Mr. Martin preyed upon vulnerable victims while promoting some of the sickest forms of human depravity.”
He is accused of forcing two 13-year-old girls to harm themselves for him in September 2022, telling one victim to cut his name “in every possible place on her body” and that he would leak pictures of her if she did not do as he said. He also allegedly made the girl carve swastikas and satanic symbols into her body.
The second victim was allegedly forced to scratch herself with her nails until she bled and then pour rubbing alcohol on the wounds. Prosecutors said Martin shared three videos of this incident with another user on Discord.
The same month, Martin allegedly cyberstalked a third 13-year-old girl and told the victim that he had placed a hit on her grandmother, saying that he had agreed to pay someone $3,000 to kidnap and murder the woman.
Prosecutors said he provided the grandmother’s address to the victim and shared the phone numbers of the victim and her grandmother in a separate Discord chat, where he told the other users to harass them.
He also allegedly victimized at least nine children as part of a child exploitation enterprise where he produced and distributed child pornography. Eight of the victims were between the ages of 11 and 15 years old at the time of the crimes.
The FBI is investigating this case, which is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide DOJ initiative launched in 2006 aimed at fighting child sexual exploitation and abuse.
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