**Justin Swaddle**, a 20-year-old from Leeds, known by online aliases such as 'Epstein,' 'Rugen,' and 'Moscow,' has been sentenced to two years in prison. His sentencing follows a guilty plea to multiple child sexual abuse and blackmail offenses at Leeds Crown Court on July 2. Swaddle will also be added to the National Sex Offenders Register and face a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years. ### International Investigation Uncovers Extensive Abuse Swaddle's arrest in October 2023 by **West Yorkshire Police** initiated an investigation that was later taken over by the **UK National Crime Agency (NCA)** in January 2024. The NCA identified 117 female victims worldwide, aged between 13 and 17. **NCA** Operations Manager Danielle Pownall stated, "Justin Swaddle targeted young and vulnerable victims all over the world to abuse and scare them into carrying out shocking self-harm and sexual activity, purely to gain popularity with his peers online." She added, "He gained the trust of his victims, before collecting private information about them so he could threaten to share their intimate images or report them to their school or parents to incite further content." Investigators found images of children aged three to 17 on seized devices, some depicting self-harm and other acts encouraged by Swaddle. Telegram messages revealed attempts by Swaddle to incite a child to sexually abuse a younger child and record it, threatening to leak indecent images if further content was not provided. Images showing victims with self-harm injuries, including Swaddle's aliases carved into their skin, and indecent images of children in Categories A to C (Category A being the most severe) were also discovered.  ### The Com Collective: A Multifaceted Threat **The Com** (short for Community) is a sprawling online cybercrime collective that recruits and grooms victims through various online platforms. Its tactics involve coercion into self-harm, violence, and the production of child sexual abuse material, often facilitated by blackmail. **Europol** has previously detailed the collective's structure, which includes several subgroups: * **Offline Com**: Promotes property damage, violence, and acts of terrorism. * **(S)extortion Com**: Coerces minors into sex crimes and encourages self-harm and suicide. * **Cyber Com**: Orchestrates network intrusions and ransomware attacks. * **764**: A subgroup that emerged in 2021, notorious for grooming young people into producing explicit content for extortion or sharing among members. In April 2025, alleged **764** leaders, 21-year-old **Leonidas Varagiannis** and 20-year-old **Prasan Nepal**, were arrested and now face potential life sentences for operating an international child exploitation ring. ### Broader Cybercrime Connections **The Com** has also been linked to high-profile ransomware attacks. These include the **Las Vegas casino breaches** in September 2023, as well as attacks against UK retailing giants **Marks & Spencer**, **Co-op**, and **Harrods** in April 2025. In February, a year-long **Europol**-led operation, dubbed "Project Compass," resulted in 30 arrests and identified 179 suspects connected to **The Com**. Furthermore, **Europol** flagged 4,340 URLs for removal during a multi-week operation in July, targeting online content associated with the group.