If you thought child trafficking was some far-off nightmare happening in shady back alleys of third-world countries, think again. It’s happening right here, in the so-called land of the free, and it’s not just happening — it’s thriving. Online platforms that were supposedly built for kids to build blocky castles or slay pixel dragons have turned into digital hunting grounds for predators. And the worst part? The people in charge — tech execs, law enforcement brass, and politicians — are all acting like they just discovered the internet last week.
Let’s start with the recent horror show out of Fresno, California. A 21-year-old man named Manuel Coronado Gonzalez thought it would be a brilliant idea to cruise around Roblox, the children’s gaming app, using fake accounts to lure underage girls for sex. Yes, you read that right — a grown man trolling a kids’ game, looking for victims. He got caught, thankfully, but not by some crack FBI unit or elite cybercrime task force. Nope. He got nabbed by a local vigilante group called Schlep, which sounds like a bad sitcom but is apparently more effective than the feds.
One of Schlep’s members summed it up perfectly: “Every single arrest that I have gotten, if it wasn’t us, it would have been a real kid.” Translation: the people with badges and budgets are too busy playing bureaucratic hot potato while volunteer groups do their job for them.
But wait — it gets worse. Much worse.
Enter “764,” a group that sounds like a bad hacker movie but is, in reality, a well-organized, sadistic network of child predators operating across multiple platforms: Roblox, Minecraft, Discord — you know, all the places your kid probably hangs out online. This isn’t just a bunch of creeps in a basement. This is an international, tech-savvy cult that grooms children, forces them into self-harm, collects blackmail material, and pushes them toward suicide. Yes, actual suicide — on livestream. While other teens watch.
And before you ask, yes, law enforcement knows about it. The FBI issued a warning back in 2024. Canada’s Mounties are on the case too, scratching their heads and saying, “Wow, this is bad.” That’s about as far as they’ve gotten. Because actually stopping these psychopaths? That would require real effort, coordination, and — God forbid — political will.
One of the more horrifying stories comes from a documentary that followed a girl named Trinity, who was so deeply manipulated by this group that she carved swastikas and usernames into her skin and attempted suicide live on Discord. Her mother begged for help. The police shrugged. The predators? They cheered.
So where are the tech companies in all of this? Sitting on their mountains of cash, issuing vague statements about “community guidelines” and “user safety,” while kids are literally being tortured on their platforms. Roblox and Discord seem more concerned with banning mean words than stopping actual crime. But hey, at least they’ve got a Pride Month filter.
And the politicians? They’re too busy investigating each other or holding hearings that accomplish nothing except generating soundbites for social media. Because solving child exploitation isn’t sexy unless there’s a vote or a donor check attached to it.
Thank God for people like the folks behind “Hiding in Plain Sight,” a new documentary that actually dares to show what’s going on. It’s ugly, it’s brutal, and it’s exactly what every parent needs to see. The film doesn’t sugarcoat anything. It shows how predators have adapted faster than our institutions, how bureaucrats have failed to keep up, and how the only real defense left is informed, vigilant parents who are willing to face the truth.
According to Our Rescue CEO Derek Benner, “This film is a wake-up call.” Translation: while Washington naps and Silicon Valley counts money, your kid could be next.
So if you’re still thinking, “This could never happen to my child,” you’re already behind. The predators are online. The gatekeepers are asleep. And the only line of defense left is you. Wake up.