An Elmhurst man remains under house arrest a month after he was arraigned in Brooklyn federal court for sexually exploiting children on the internet.
Hector Bermudez, 29, and four other men across the country were arrested by FBI agents on an indictment charging them for their participation in a child exploitation enterprise, conspiracy to produce child pornography, conspiracy to receive and distribute child pornography, and conspiracy to communicate interstate threats.
Bermudez and his co-defendants led a notorious online group called “Greggy’s Cult,” whose members carried out the alleged criminal conduct on a series of Discord servers, targeting minors, with the youngest of the victims being 11 years old, according to the indictment.
“No child should ever be terrorized or exploited online, and no online platform should give refuge to predators,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said, “The Department of Justice will continue to protect children, support survivors, and hold accountable anyone who preys on the vulnerable — online or offline — with every tool we have.”
Bermudez and three of his co-conspirators, Zachary Dosch, 26, of Albuquerque, NM, David Brilhante, 28, of San Diego, CA, and Camden Rodriguez, 22, of Longmont, CO were arrested on Dec. 2. Bermudez was arraigned in the Eastern District of New York that afternoon. The fifth co-defendant, Rumaldo Valdez, 22, of Honolulu, HI, is currently incarcerated on another federal matter.
“As alleged, the defendants leveraged a popular internet platform to coerce minors into creating grotesque child pornography of themselves, which the defendants distributed, and then tormented these victims with the images, not only encouraging self-harm, but also encouraging some minors to commit suicide,” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella said. “The defendant’s conduct, as alleged, is monstrous and will be vigorously prosecuted. I strongly urge parents and caregivers to speak to their children about the dangers of communicating with strangers on social media and how to seek help from adults and law enforcement in these situations.”
As alleged in the indictment, between January 2020 and January 2021, Bermudez and his co-defendants participated in the production and distribution of child sexual abuse material and engaged in other forms of exploitation and harassment of both minor and adult victims. The defendants convened on the Discord server and directed minor victims, who had joined a video call on either Discord or other video conferencing platforms, to engage in sexually explicit or other degrading conduct. The defendants captured images and videos of the sexually explicit conduct of their minor victims and shared it on the Discord servers and amongst themselves.
Greggy’s Cult came into existence before another sadistic extortion network, 764, and prominent members of 764 and other similar networks that followed were also members of Greggy’s Cult. The defendants coerced, induced, and enticed their victims to degrade themselves by engaging in self-harm, including professing themselves to being “owned” by a member of Greggy’s Cult to demonstrate loyalty and writing the names of Greggy’s Cult members on their bodies or holding up signs with their names, which is a practice known as “fansigning.”
The group found victims in Discord servers or on gaming platforms such as Roblox and Counterstrike: Global Offensive. Members of Greggy’s Cult engaged in conduct such as encouraging victims to kill themselves or demanding that they insert household objects into their genitals or anus. Greggy’s Cult also engaged in coordinated extortion of adult and minor victims through various means, including by attempting to frame adult victims as pedophiles or by sending malware to minor victims’ computers and refusing to return their access until victims complied with the group’s demands.
“These five defendants allegedly coerced children to share videos subjecting themselves to brutal sexual abuse, while also encouraging self-harm and other degrading acts,” FBI New York Assistant Director in Charge Christopher Raia said. “The defendants allegedly weaponized online gaming platforms to target unsuspecting minors and use them to satisfy the horrendous desires of a twisted group.”
Bermudez was held in federal detention until mid-December when he was granted a conditional release after he posted a $350,000 bond, with his mother’s Queens home set girth as collateral. He must reside at his mother’s home where she is serving as a third-party custodian. Bermudez is restricted to that residence at all times except for court appearances, according to court filings. Bermudez had to surrender his passport and is not allowed to use a computer or have any other access to the internet and he is not permitted to communicate with any person under the age of 18 in writing, over the telephone or via any electronic means.
“This case underscores how easily predators can embed themselves in the digital platforms that minors use,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. “The NYPD and our federal partners have been focused on uncovering and dismantling online groups that prey on children. I want to thank the NYPD investigators, the FBI, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their persistence and dedication to bringing these offenders to justice.”
The FBI is urging victims or anyone with information on the defendants to contact their tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324).
