Sadistic cult recruiting Dutch children on Roblox gaming platform
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A sadistic cult called The Cult of Spawn is recruiting Dutch children on the popular gaming platform Roblox and convincing them to commit violence, self-harm, and even suicide, research by EenVandaag uncovered.
The home base of this cult is the game Forsaken, a horror game on Roblox. While playing Forsaken, gamers are lured into private chat groups. Access to these private groups requires a sacrifice from the player. Nude photos or proof that you carved the cult’s symbol into your skin are common.
Once in, children are brainwashed, according to EenVandaag. The cult leaders call themselves prophets and preach that their young victims will have a second real life after death, where they can return in a better form - a theme that is also present in Forsaken. Before they are “ready for a better second life,” the victims must make all sorts of sacrifices, including sharing sensitive images of themselves. If they try to back out, the perpetrators threaten to post the images and personal information online.
It was already known that sadistic online groups were targeting children on Roblox and social media. In recent months, the Dutch police arrested several suspected members of the 764 and No Lives Matter subgroups of the sadistic “Com” online community. According to EenVandaag, there is some crossover between The Cult of Spawn and these groups.
It was also already known that The Cult of Spawn has claimed several victims abroad. EenVandaag made contact with the first Dutch victim whose story has come to light. The girl, whom the broadcaster dubbed Tanya, carved the cult’s symbol into her skin and made blood sacrifices, among other things.
Tanya’s loved ones were unaware of the sadistic network she had become entangled in. “One of them was forcing her to commit suicide; the date had already been set,” Tanya’s mother told the program.
“We are very concerned about this movement,” Annemiek van Noord, a detective in the National Police’s Child Pornography and Child Sex Tourism Team who is investigating this phenomenon, told EenVandaag. She stressed that the police are shocked by the perpetrator’s sadistic and often gruesome actions.
The police are doing what they can, but it is a very complicated issue to address. “The leaders are regularly blocked and accounts are deleted, but they then continue elsewhere under a different name,” Van Noord said. “There’s a group, things happen within it, and the next moment that group is gone. But then a new group emerges.”
EenVandaag asked the involved online platforms for a response to the presence of criminal groups on their platforms.
Roblox said that online grooming and behavior that endangers minors is strictly prohibited. “We monitor this 24/7. And if we detect abuse, we take immediate action.”
Discord said that it complies with the law to prevent dangerous content, proactively detects harmful content, and cooperates with the American authorities.
Telegram said it removes harmful content and cooperates with European authorities.
X didn’t respond, but the other social media platform said they check posts for harmful content and intervene when such content is found.
