At 15, He Became an Infamous Online Predator

The group known as 764 is infamous for some of the most depraved online harassment targeting children. On apps such as Discord, where moderation is easily skirted, predators groom minors until they obtain collateral, like nude photos, from them. They then threaten to distribute this collateral unless the children livestream disturbing acts, including self-harm, cruelty to pets, sexual acts, and carving the names of their harassers into their skin. The Washington Post's past investigations into these dark corners of the web have exposed the insidious nature of 764's hold on children—and in its newest report, journalists Shawn Boburg and Chris Dehghanpoor take an in-depth look at the person who started it all as a teenager.

Bradley Cadenhead was just 15 when he dropped out of high school and created the 764 Discord server in his bedroom. He was glued to his computer at the time, rarely coming out of his room as he carved out a dark identity that Boburg and Dehghanpoor hold up as a photo negative to Cadenhead's own experiences with harassment. From a young age, Cadenhead was constantly bullied by children from his Texas church, described by a classmate at the time as an "easy target." Now, at 19, he's serving his second year of an 80-year prison sentence for his crimes, specifically possession of child pornography. "Very rarely do we get a chance to look evil in the face," prosecutor Jett Smith said during Cadenhead's sentencing. "This may be one of those times." Read the full story. (Or check out other longform recaps.)