STOCKHOLM: An 18-year-old man linked to a sadistic online network was charged in Sweden on Friday for online offences in several countries, including directing a minor to stab an elderly man.
The Swedish Prosecution Authority said he was suspected of 77 different offences, including attempted murder, encouraging suicide, distributing child pornography and animal cruelty.
All the crimes were committed over the internet.
Prosecutor Jenny Ostling said the accused was well-known with the online community “The Com,” a loosely organised network of groups promoting violence, including the group known as “764”.
“The perpetrators often look for easily manipulated and vulnerable victims on platforms where there are frequently children and young people,” Ostling said in a statement. “These include, for example, self-harm groups, suicide groups and forums for mental health issues, but also popular gaming platforms such as Roblox.” In one instance in 2024, the accused is alleged to have orchestrated a boy under the age of 15 to stab an 82-year-old man in the back.
The boy was found guilty of the crime in April last year, but was not given a sentence as he was under Sweden´s age of criminal responsibility.
The accused is also suspected of having coerced an Australian girl to harm herself, send videos of a sexual nature, and encouraging her to take her own life.
In addition, he is suspected of coercing a man in Germany into injuring himself so severely that he was close to dying on two occasions.
The authority also said the accused, who has been in custody since April 2025, was being charged over several instances of encouraging people to commit suicide or harm themselves.
