A misogynistic paedophile who was found with a horde of indecent images of children before being linked to an online neo Nazi criminal gang that blackmailed young teenage girls into livestreaming suicide, has escaped jail. Richard Ehiemere, now 21, was seized for possessing indecent images of children after the National Crime Agency (NCA) receiving a referral from social media site Discord in January 2021, when he was 17 years old. The online platform was concerned about the activities of the CVLT group, which Ehiemere was linked to.

CVLT is a form of 'Com' network, which are typically made up of young males who share harmful and misogynistic content, and commit a range of online offences. Members attempt to gain status within the group by committing or encouraging ever more shocking or harmful acts. Despite his sickening crimes Eheimere today escaped prison and was instead handed a suspended 12 month tariff. That means if he stays out of trouble he will avoid being locked-up.

Ehiemere's lenient sentencing comes after the NCA’s latest National Strategic Assessment, published in March, warned about the dangers posed by 'Com networks'.

The investigation into Ehiemere established that he had logged on to the "Retaliate#1337" account hundreds of times, which had access to Discord channels connected to CVLT.

"Retaliate#1337" had disclosed stolen email addresses and passwords, known as 'combo lists', and the profile is also believed to have shared indecent images of children (IIOC).

NCA investigators were able to trace these log-ons back to Ehiemere's home address in Hackney, East London, where he was arrested in April 2021 in a joint operation with the Metropolitan Police.

His mobile phone was seized and found to contain 29 IIOC, ranging from category A (the most severe) to category C. Conversations relating to hacking, selling unlawfully obtained material and how to avoid detection were also stored on it.

A computer tower was found with 142 combo lists stored on it, each containing personal details which had been stolen and could have been used to defraud victims.

A number of accounts and software associated with VPN providers – which are used to mask the user's location - such as "ExpressVPN", "NordVPN", "MullvadVPN" and "OpenVPN" were also found. "ExpressVPN" and "MullvadVPN" were used to access the relevant Retaliate account when emails and passwords were shared.

More broadly, members of CVLT and other com networks are known to target girls on social media platforms such as Discord. They used online monikers to communicate and persuade them to send intimate photos of themselves.

Members in these groups threaten to 'dox' their victims, which involves revealing real-world identities and publishing other personal information online, in order to coerce them into complying with their demands.

CVLT victims would often be targeted by one member of the group who would persuade them to send intimate images of themselves, either by coercion or consent. This material would then be used by the wider group to blackmail the victim into sending increasingly extreme content.

Girls are often forced to join group calls, where they would be instructed to carry out sexual acts and acts of self-harm for their audience. In severe cases, vulnerable victims have been encouraged to kill themselves on camera.

Ehiemere was charged with two fraud offences and three IIOC offences and convicted by a jury at Aldersgate Nightingale Court on 25 February this year, following a seven-day trial.

He was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months and given a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Thursday.

Steve Laval, Senior Investigating Officer at the NCA's National Cyber Crime Unit, said: “Richard Ehiemere helped this dangerous online group by supplying stolen information which they could use to defraud a significant number of victims. His actions helped to promote violence against women and girls and the NCA, alongside our policing partners, will do everything we can to identify and disrupt these harmful groups.

“CVLT and other 'Com' networks are dangerous online environments in which members encourage each other to commit a range of harmful and often depraved offences.

“We are collaborating with policing partners, technology companies, safeguarding agencies and psychologists to better understand how young people become offenders and safeguard victims.

“Together, we will reduce the threat posed by these groups, pursuing their members or those associated to them, and raising awareness with parents and educators to help them spot malign behaviour.”