EVERETT — Law enforcement arrested an Everett man Wednesday morning after he allegedly threatened to murder a Massachusetts minor and distributed child sex abuse materials and videos of animals being crushed.
The 23-year-old’s alleged actions align with the beliefs of nihilistic violent extremists, individuals who engage in criminal conduct with the goal of “bringing about society’s collapse by sowing chaos and social instability,” a press release said from the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Massachusetts.
Nihilistic violent extremists will use social media to connect with individuals, particularly minors, and desensitize them to violence, normalize the possession and distribution of child sexual abuse and gore material, and groom individuals towards committing violent acts in the future, the release said.
In addition to distributing the alleged videos to the victim, the suspect allegedly threatened to murder the victim on five occasions in June and July. Threats included statements such as “I’ll swear I’ll f*****g kill you” and “I have your address and I’ll commit a murder suicide,” the release said.
A federal grand jury in Boston indicted the 23-year-old for “knowingly distributing child pornography to a minor; five counts of transmitting threatening communications in interstate commerce; and possession and distribution of animal crushing videos,” the release said.
The suspect appeared in federal court in Seattle on Wednesday afternoon. He is set to appear in federal court in Boston at a later date, the release said
The suspect is detained pending an identity hearing to determine detention and whether he is the individual named in the indictment on Dec. 10, Emily Langlie, spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle, said in an email.
The sentence for knowingly distributing child pornography to a minor is five to 20 years in prison, up to a lifetime of supervised release and up to a $250,000 fine, the release said. For sending threatening communications in interstate commerce, the sentence is up to five years in prison, three years supervised release and up to a $250,000 fine. For distribution of animal crushing videos, the sentence is up to seven years in prison, three years of supervised release and up to a $250,000 fine.
These cases are part of the nationwide initiative, Project Safe Childhood, “designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse,” the release said. The Department of Justice launched the initiative in 2006.
