Police arrest criminal network operating on Discord for exposing violence against girls

The São Paulo Civil Police have arrested at least four people who exposed violence against minors on Discord. The detainees transmitted scenes of aggression and even rape recorded against girls through the app.

The story was shown on the program last Sunday (25). Fantasticrevealed the identities of the prisoners. The investigation blamed Vitor Hugo Souza Rocha (known as Verdadeiro Vitor), Gabriel Barreto Vilares (Law), William Maza dos Santos (Joust) and Carlos Eduardo Custódio (known as DPE), who were the only escapees. .

In one case, the attackers paid for a 13-year-old girl to travel from Joinville (SC) to São Paulo (SP). The victim was drugged and beaten, as well as forced into sexual intercourse with the attackers, according to reports from the teen’s sister in São Paulo.

The victim’s seducer was the 19-year-old DPE, who placed the girl in a home where the crimes were committed. Some moments were broadcast live on the internet.

“We were shocked by what we saw. They left the virtual and went to physics. They [agressores] Through this app he managed to recruit these girls, brought them from other states, produced this pornographic content and sent it to the criminal arrested in Bauru. [o Verdadeiro Vitor]”, said Fábio Pinheiro Lopes, representative of the São Paulo Civil Police.

In addition to crimes against youth, the Public Prosecutor’s Office and Police are investigating evidence that the defendants and more may have been involved in murders of the homeless, drug trafficking and attacks on schools.

dozens of files

Discord is the platform where inmates’ scenes of aggression against girls are discussed, organized and even shown. But investigators discovered dozens of materials stored on SSDs and on the defendants’ computers.

According to police, the 21-year-old criminal known as “Verdadeiro Vitor” is one of those who have kept several records of shocking scenes. In videos obtained by the police and shown by the police Fantasticthe guy shows some of his “collection” to his friends.

In one of the moments it is possible to see that he has a folder called “Backup of raped prostitutes”. Inside are several other folders containing images and videos of rape and violence against minors, all cataloged by the victim’s name.

“He spread that to other groups. We’re investigating whether he’s doing it for the money or just because he’s part of these pedophilia and child pornography groups,” said Chief Lopes.

Brazilian authorities also plan to investigate Discord itself, which could be accused of collaborating with crimes for not having enough filters to prevent the spread of violent material.

“We are investigating the lack of security on the Discord platform through a civil investigation. Individual crimes will always be on the internet. What differentiates is the detection of structured hate speech taking place on this platform. São Paulo prosecutor Danilo Orlando said, “It is a convenient way for them to plan attacks on victims and, above all, to convey the content of the crime. place,” he said.

Other side

A Discord spokesperson stated that the app does not tolerate hateful behavior, that it is a free product used by more than 150 million people, and that there will be occasional bad content and behavior.

“I would like to emphasize that the vast majority of interactions using Discord in Brazil are positive and healthy. We are proactive and are investigating groups that may be involved in threats against children and are working to remove these bad actors from the platform,” said Clint Smith. Discord head of security.