CRIME chiefs have warned of a dramatic rise in sadistic online gangs of teenage boys abusing victims and sharing horrific images.
The National Crime Agency said so-called “com networks” increased six-fold between 2022 and 2024 — with cases involving thousands of users and victims.
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It said offences include sexual blackmail, sharing sexual images, fraud and encouraging suicide, targeting kids as young as 11.
Victims are being blackmailed and threatened into streaming images of them harming siblings and pets.
The trend is identified in an NCA report published yesterday which paints a picture of boys desensitised to violence from viewing extreme material online.
They are also falling under the spell of toxic influencers such as Andrew Tate.
Richard Ehiemere of Hackney, East London, is awaiting sentence for offences relating to indecent images of kids.
They were committed when he was 17 and linked to a prolific online group.
Graeme Biggar, NCA Director General, said: “This is a hugely complex and deeply concerning phenomenon.
“Young people are being drawn into these sadistic and violent online gangs where they are collaborating at scale to inflict, or incite others to commit, serious harm.
“These groups are not lurking on the dark web, they exist in the same online world and platforms young people use on a daily basis.
“It is especially concerning to see the impact this is having on young girls who are often groomed into hurting themselves and in some cases, encouraged to attempt suicide.”
He said the issues link to the work of counter-terror police, such as school shootings and terrorism.
And he said they and the NCA were seeing “evidence of gamification”, where offenders aim to reach a next level.
Mr Biggar urged parents to speak to kids about their online behaviour.
His comments follow those of ex-England manager Sir Gareth Southgate who gave a BBC lecture identifying the problem of young boys falling into a toxic online world of, gambling and pornography.
The issue of a bullying online culture is also highlighted in the current Netflix series Adolescence.
James Babbage, head of the NCA’s threats assessment, praised the Netflix show for raising awareness of the problem.
He said people were being “sucked in” by a toxic online environment and “becoming desensitised and radicalised”.
