Maryland 19-year-old arrested for sending lewd photos to minor — and referenced satanic online grooming cult

Police are asking the public for help to identify other possible victims of a 19-year-old who referenced a satanic online cult and sent lewd photos to a child.

Jacob William St. Peter of Leonardtown was arrested by the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office in Maryland on Feb 3., according to a statement from the Nampa Police Department.

‘It systematically targets vulnerable youth, beginning with seemingly harmless interactions, before escalating to coercion, blackmail, and demands for explicit or self-harm content.’

Police said they were contacted in December by a Nampa resident who reported that an unknown adult man had sent “unsolicited explicit images” to a minor online. A digital forensic examination of the minor’s devices found that the suspect had used the moniker “randysaystrade” on various platforms.

They found explicit content along with references to 764, an online grooming cult that police described as engaging in “coordinated grooming and coercive exploitation of vulnerable adolescents.”

Members of the 764 satanic network target emotionally vulnerable underage children and then coerce them into a spectrum of self-abuse that includes cutting, eating their own hair, and even suicide. The U.S. Dept. of Justice has said cult members often have the victims record the self-abuse, and then the footage is “circulated among members to extort victims further and exert control over them.”

St. Peter faces felony charges of sexual abuse of a child under 16 years of age. He remained under custody in Maryland and awaits extradition to Idaho after receiving a $100,000 bond.

Det. Noah Monroe of the Nampa Police Special Victims Unit said the case is a good reminder for parents to restrict and monitor their children’s access to social media.

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“Communicating with strangers online carries serious risks, particularly for minors, as predators exploit trust to manipulate and harm,” Monroe said.

“The ‘764’ network exemplifies these dangers,” he explained. “It systematically targets vulnerable youth, beginning with seemingly harmless interactions, before escalating to coercion, blackmail, and demands for explicit or self-harm content. Parents and guardians must remain proactive in supervising online activity and educating children about these threats.”

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