A federal grand jury in Boston has indicted a Washington State man for allegedly threatening to murder a Massachusetts child, and sending the victim child sexual abuse material and videos of animals being crushed.
Joseph Pacheco, 23, of Everett, Wash., is slated to appear in Boston federal court after authorities arrested him in his home state for sending the child graphic content and threatening messages.
Authorities are describing Pacheco as a “nihilistic violent extremist,” an individual they say engages in criminal conduct to “further the goal of bringing about society’s collapse by sowing chaos and social instability.”
According to charging documents, Pacheco allegedly threatened to murder the child on five occasions earlier this year, starting on June 1, when he stated, “I will kill you if you ever leave me. I cannot live without you. You’re mine forever.”
The last murder threat reportedly came on July 13 when Pacheco allegedly messaged the victim, “If you don’t add me back … I promise you … I’ll (expletive) kill you … Kill your whole family.”
At the same time, Pacheco also allegedly “knowingly” sent the victim child sexual abuse material and videos of animals being crushed. Authorities say that posts on his social media accounts “espoused goals shared by Nihilistic Violent Extremists.”
“NVEs frequently use social media to connect with individuals, particularly minors,” Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Leah Foley’s office said in a release on Wednesday, “to desensitize them to violence by breaking down societal norms regarding the commission of violent acts, normalizing the possession and distribution of CSAM as well as gore material and otherwise corrupting and grooming the individuals towards committing future acts of violence.”
The federal grand jury in Boston indicted Pacheco 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 charges carry prison sentences of up to 20 years, up to a lifetime of supervised release and fines of up to $250,000.
The national People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals has defined videos of animals being crushed as a “cruel and illegal genre of pornography in which women are videotaped or photographed mutilating small animals for the sexual gratification of viewers.”
