Trigger warning: This report includes graphic descriptions of sexual abuse, self-harm, and child exploitation. Some readers may find it disturbing.
Colin John Thomas Walker, 23, and Clint Jordan Lopaka Nahooikaika Borge, 41, were charged with participating in a neo-Nazi child exploitation ring that saw the production of child pornography, the United States Justice Department announced on Thursday.
Walker, a resident of New Jersey, and Borge, a resident of Hawaii, were both arrested on Thursday and charged with one count of engaging in a child exploitation enterprise.
The pair are allegedly members of CVLT, “an online group that espoused neo-Nazism, nihilism, and pedophilia as its core principles,” the department explained.
The duo, along with at least two others, allegedly coerced at least 16 minors, at least two of whom were based in the United States, into producing child pornography and self-harm images from 2019-2022.
The exploitation of minors
The content produced included videos of the minors harming themselves and calling themselves racial slurs. In at least one incident, CVLT members pressured a victim to attempt suicide on Livestream.
When the victims would seek help or distance themselves from the online activities, CVLT members would threaten to release the materials already recorded – in some incidents, following through with the threat.
The minors were said to have been groomed in a process that included their exposure to “extremist and violent content.” The content included videos of animals being tortured and women being raped, according to the indictment.
“Having degraded and groomed the children, CVLT members would then knowingly employ, use, persuade, induce, entice, and coerce children to self-produce child pornography and self-harm. This child pornography sometimes included use of pets or other children, or insertion of foreign objects like knives or cacti into their genitals,” the indictment read.
The group reportedly targeted vulnerable youth – particularly those who suffered from mental health issues or had experienced past sexual abuse trauma.
The case also brought further charges against Rohan Sandeep Rane, 28, of France, and Kaleb Christopher Merritt, 24, of Texas, who were both already in custody. Rane has been held in France since 2022 for child exploitation and related charges, and Merritt is currently serving a 50-year sentence for child sex abuse crimes committed in 2020 and 2021.
Rane, Walker, and Merritt were allegedly acting as CVLT leaders – hosting and running CVLT online servers and controlling CVLT membership.
If found guilty, Borge and Walker face a minimum penalty of 20 years in prison and a statutory maximum penalty of life in prison.
This article was originally published at www.jpost.com
