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FBI officials say they are growing increasingly concerned about a loose network of violent predators who befriend teenagers through popular online platforms and then coerce them into escalating sexual and violent behavior -- pushing victims to create graphic pornography, harm family pets, cut themselves with sharp objects, or even die by suicide.

FBI investigations of a heinous online child predator network have expanded to target more than 450 people, the bureau said on Tuesday. Officials continue to crack down on groups going by names such as “764” that lure children into violent online communities and induce them toward self-harm or sexual acts, FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge Joe Rothrock said in a statement warning parents and schoolteachers. Authorities have traced similar groups’ beginnings to at least 2019, announcing more than 350 subjects of investigations by late last year. FBI Dallas is sharing information with parents, guardians, and teachers about violent online...

On Wednesday’s Morning Joe, co-host Willie Geist dropped explicit adult-film terminology while bashing President Trump’s diplomatic approach to China. Discussing Trump’s upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Geist said with a noticeable smirk and hesitation: “Trump is lavishing praise on Xi ahead of this meeting, which is a strange thing for the art of the deal guy, to give all this, you know, this fluffing, if you will, of President Xi.” In porn industry terminology, a “fluffer” is the person whose job is to arouse the male performer off-camera right before filming. Geist’s pause and smirk made it clear...

Police in North Carolina arrested and charged a 24-year-old over the alleged rape and murder of his teenage girlfriend, who was found stripped and bound in a Charlotte apartment — after suffering months of torture. The body of 19-year-old Isabella Stroupe was found almost naked and bound with a tow strap in east Charlotte on Friday, WSCOTV’s Hunter Sáenz reported, citing court records. Her boyfriend, Thomaz Hamilton, 24, initially claimed the couple was having sex when she suffered a suspected heart attack, according to court documents. But following an autopsy, the medical examiner ruled Stroupe’s death a homicide, Sáenz reported....

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A pediatric nurse who worked at Presbyterian Hospital in downtown Albuquerque has been arrested and is accused of possessing, selling and trading child pornography videos online. Blade Rogers, 29, was arrested Thursday and booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center after being charged with possession of a visual medium of sexual exploitation of a child under the age of 13. He was set to appear before a judge Thursday afternoon, but his first appearance was postponed due to medical reasons. In early February, instant messaging company Kik alerted the New Mexico Department of Justice that one of its...

An effort to bring some mercy to infants who survive their attempted abortion was shot down by Oregon Democrats. Rep. Court Boice's (R-District 1) motion to bring HB 4087, the "Born Alive Infants Protection Act," to the full House out of the Committee on Health Care was voted down with 34 Democrats voting no and 22 Republicans voting yes. The decision came after testimony from abortion survivor Amy Miles. Rep. Cyrus Javadi (D-District 32), a former Republican who previously sponsored the same legislation, explained "since the intent of the abortion is to terminate the life of the unwanted child, it...

Speaking during an hour-long conversation with 22-year-old evangelist Bryce Crawford on the "Bryce Crawford Podcast," Carlson argued that the political debates in the U.S. often distract from deeper spiritual problems. "To make it Republican versus Democrat is completely false, and it also ignores the deeper truth, which is our problems start within us," he said. "And I honestly think that one of the biggest problems — sorry to shock your viewers — is pornography on the internet." Carlson went on to suggest self-destructive sexual depravity is a result of "the last 80 years of prosperity," which he said "has driven...

President Donald Trump's administration called on a federal judge to approve the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Liberia on Friday, arguing all legal hurdles had been cleared. The Friday filing is the latest in the administration's efforts to deport Abrego Garcia a second time following his return from El Salvador earlier this year. The Justice Department called on U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis to clear the deportation, saying Abrego Garcia had failed to establish that he would face persecution in Liberia. "Petitioner's claims are procedurally barred multiple times over and fail on the merits in any event," the...

An immigration judge on Wednesday denied a motion filed by Kilmar Abrego Garcia's attorneys to reopen his immigration case, according to a copy of the decision obtained by ABC News. In the emergency motion filed in August to reopen the case, attorneys for the wrongly deported Abrego Garcia argued that because he was deported to El Salvador and then brought back to the United States, he is now eligible to apply for asylum within one year of his last entry into the U.S. But in the order filed on Wednesday, Regional Deputy Chief Immigration Judge Philip Taylor said that Abrego...

Recently, showrunner Steven S. DeKnight and actor Nick E. Tarabay opened up about pushing the boundaries of sex and violence on Spartacus: House of Ashur, the upcoming Starz spin-off. Speaking at the Heat Vision Live event, the duo discussed the creative freedoms behind the new series. At The Hollywood Reporter’s inaugural Heat Vision Live event, showrunner Steven S. DeKnight and actor Nick E. Tarabay reflected on the creative risks behind Spartacus: House of Ashur. DeKnight noted that he has yet to encounter a creative boundary involving sex or violence that he is unwilling to test. He credited both Starz and...

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., called Netflix "demonic" for targeting children with pro-transgender content, and he wants the streaming giant’s executives to explain their intentions on Capitol Hill. Burchett penned a letter to House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky, last week expressing interest in calling Netflix executives to Capitol Hill after a viral clip of a children’s show called "Dead End: Paranormal Park" showed a character coming out as trans. The show aired in 2022 with only 20 episodes. "We need to get them for the committee and ask them what their intentions are with this and if, in fact,...

The son of Ryan Wesley Routh, the latter of whom has been arrested in connection to the second assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, has been charged with possessing child pornography. Oran Routh is facing federal charges for the possession of child pornography after investigators searched his home in Greensboro, North Carolina. According to reports, the search was “in connection with an investigation unrelated to child exploitation,” per an FBI official. ABC News confirmed that the “unrelated” investigation is indeed in reference to Oran Routh’s father, who was arrested on September 14 in connection to a second assassination attempt...

Pornography consumption may affect judgments on a wide range of sexual and reproductive topics. The present study hypothesized that the consistent images projected in pornography affect sexual scripts related to abortion judgments. National, three-wave longitudinal data gathered from U.S. adults were employed to examine associations between earlier pornography consumption and subsequent support for abortion. The findings suggested that prior pornography consumption may lead to later support for abortion. This study provides additional evidence of pornography's socializing impact, particularly for the older White segment of the population, and adds to knowledge about what environmental factors influence judgments about abortion. Mechanisms that...

Police say that a Salt Lake City man — who was no stranger to the state's political scene — claimed responsibility moments after the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, in an attempt to "draw attention from the real shooter." The arrest also sparked a child pornography investigation. George Hodgson Zinn, 71, was booked into Utah County Jail for investigation of obstruction of justice and sexual exploitation of a minor on Monday, following a few days at a hospital. Newly released police documents also detail more of what happened that led to his arrest at Utah Valley University, which...

OREM, Utah (KTVX) — The first man arrested in connection with the deadly shooting of Charlie Kirk yelled, “I shot him, now shoot me” immediately after the shooting in an attempt to help the shooter escape, according to newly filed documents. George Zinn, 71, was taken into custody following the shooting, but he was later cleared on having any direct involvement with the shooting. He was arrested on suspicion of obstruction of justice. Currently, investigators have a suspect in custody for the shooting. Tyler Robinson, 22, was arrested on September 11 after he told a family member that he was...

George Zinn is arrested shortly after Charlie Kirk was shot during Turning Point’s visit to Utah Valley University in Orem on Wednesday. Zinn, 71, of Salt Lake City, was booked into Utah County Jail on Monday for investigation of obstruction of justice. (Tess Crowley, Deseret News) ==================================================================================== KEY TAKEAWAYS George Hodgson Zinn, 71, was arrested for investigation of obstruction of justice in the Charlie Kirk murder investigation. Police say Zinn claimed to shoot Kirk to divert attention from the actual shooter. Zinn was also arrested for investigation of sexual exploitation of a minor in a separate investigation. ==================================================================================== OREM —...

Let me take you on the journey of how my daughter was groomed into being a trans identifying child at the age of 13—and I assure you, my story is not uncommon, I have heard its refrain echoed from many others with ROGD (Rapid Onset of Gender Dysphoria) kids… My daughter’s story began innocently enough…my daughter got her period… Then, in 8th grade, my daughter stopped being a good student. She became obsessed with an older girl she met, who identified as a boy. My concern grew. I started to go through all of my daughter’s devices, old, obsolete i-phones...

This week, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va) took issue with the American Declaration of Independence's assertion "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." "I find the notion that human rights are granted by God to be extremely troubling," Kaine said at a Senate hearing. "The belief that some invisible God could be the source of a person's rights is what the Iranian government believes. The sparseness of the grant of only life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is miserly...

As a young child, life was happy for Chris. He remembered good times with his parents and two siblings. Then when he was 11, his parents started arguing more. Some nights his father wouldn’t even come home. His father claimed he simply had to “work late.” But Chris felt there were bigger problems. Finally when he as 12 Chris’s parents told him that they were separating. They tried to explain how it would be better for the family because there would be less arguing, but Chris didn’t believe them. For him this was devastating news. Because so many of Chris’s...

Florida police arrested a 13-year-old on Friday who is charged with possessing child pornography and beastiality material after he joined an “online cult” that allegedly targets minors for abuse, according to a local sheriff. The unnamed suspect was charged with four felonies weeks after police received a tip about a group on Discord, a popular gaming platform, encouraging a young girl to harm herself during a “live cut show,” Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said in a Monday press conference. The suspect’s group adheres to “Satanic and neo-Nazi ideology” that has been linked to similar cases in the U.S., and...