Authorities allege that Pysher used a Discord server, a platform for instant messaging and voice communication, to groom “Minor Victim One.” He reportedly coaxed the young girl into sending him explicit images and photos depicting self-harm.
The complaint stated that the victim met Pysher in a server related to individuals suffering from mental illness.
“Among other things, Pysher specifically encouraged Minor Victim One, via chat messages, to engage in acts of self-harm, including by establishing a Discord server where [the victim] could be filmed using blades to cut herself,” the complaint states, adding that the victim only recently turned 13 years old.
The abuse culminated in Pysher traveling from eastern Pennsylvania, specifically the borough of Bangor, to Los Angeles to meet the young girl for sexual activity, the complaint explained. Pysher and an unnamed co-conspirator arrived in L.A. on Feb. 20; they picked up the victim from a location near her home and drove her to a Rodeway Inn motel in Castaic.
The exact location of where the girl was picked up was not disclosed.
The Rodeway Inn motel as seen in a Google Street View photo. According to the complaint, law enforcement was able to obtain emergency disclosures and located both Pysher and Minor Victim One at the motel.
“Also inside the room [were] condoms, a knife, lubricant, razor blades, bloody tissues and an American Airlines boarding pass for Flight AA827 from Philadelphia to Los Angeles in Pysher’s name,” the complaint states. A faraday bag, which blocks electronic signals, was also found near Pysher’s cell phone.
In the wake of the young girl being found in Castaic, she told law enforcement that Pysher came to California specifically to see her and engage in sexual acts. Also, in a chilling revelation, the girl said they had planned on committing suicide together but were unable to because law enforcement found them.
“Minor Victim One also told law enforcement that she and Pysher had engaged in sexual conduct and that Pysher had used a knife to repeatedly cut her,” the complaint alleges.
Matthew Edward Pysher as seen in a photo presented at a press conference on Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (KTLA) Minor Victim One may not be Pysher’s only victim; officials say that Pysher is “associated with nihilistic violent extremist ideology” and that his digital devices “likely contain evidence related to offenses, including information about additional minor victims.”
Further information released in the complaint provided more background on the case, including Pysher’s online alias, “Piano.Man,” and the revelation that the victim’s grandfather found a suicide note and discovered she had run away on the same day Pysher came to California.
In a press release that was also issued Monday, the Department of Justice explained the teenage suspect is part of a nihilistic violent extremist (NVE) group called 764, whose members, according to federal officials, are known to “engage in criminal conduct within the United States and abroad in furtherance of political, social or religious goals that derive primarily from a hatred of society at large and a desire to bring about its collapse by sowing indiscriminate chaos, destruction and social instability.”
“NVEs often target vulnerable individuals, including minors, and frequently use social media platforms to share child sexual abuse material or gore material or to groom victims toward committing acts of violence,” the DOJ said in the press release. “NVEs and their members frequently extort or blackmail victims into complying with NVE demands, which vary but may include self-mutilation, online and in-person sexual acts, harm to animals, sexual exploitation of siblings and others, acts of violence and threats of violence, suicide and murder.”
Federal officials, at a press conference in Los Angeles on Monday, referred to the case as “chilling,” showing messages between Pysher and the young girl, including one where he appears to justify his bloodlust.
“[It’s] hard to explain lol. I like the colors first of all lol. I just think red is a very pretty color and I like how blood looks on skin,” one message dated Jan. 24 reads. “I think blades are hot, and I like the idea of someone doing something like that for me.”
“A big part is that last one,” he added. “The fact that it’s for me makes me love it.”
Messages between a Pennsylvania man accused of traveling to meet a California teen for sex and a young female victim presented at a press conference on Feb. 23, 2026. (KTLA)
Messages between a Pennsylvania man accused of traveling to meet a California teen for sex and a young female victim presented at a press conference on Feb. 23, 2026. (KTLA)
Messages between a Pennsylvania man accused of traveling to meet a California teen for sex and a young female victim presented at a press conference on Feb. 23, 2026. (KTLA)
Other messages shown at Monday’s press conference included ones where Pysher said to the victim “you can go as deep or shallow as you want
“I love scratches, cuts and pretty much anything else lol,” another message from Jan. 24, sent minutes after the aforementioned messages, reads. “Some are better at different times too. I’m not picky.”
Frighteningly enough, the young victim responded with “I just want to be the best for you haha.”
Officials, at Monday’s press conference, said this disturbing case is a reminder to parents to monitor their children’s online activity.
“If your children have access to use the internet, sadistic predators may have access to your kids,” said U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli. “Law enforcement will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute those who seek to harm children. We advise parents to keep their kids offline.”
“The subject arrested this weekend is one of a growing number of alleged nihilistic violent extremists who prey on children and talk them into compromising sex acts and self-mutilation,” added Akil Davis, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna stated that “violent online exploitation that targets our children through manipulation, coercion and fear has absolutely no place in our communities, whether on our streets or behind a computer screen.”
Pysher, set to make his first court appearance in downtown L.A. on Monday afternoon, faces up to 30 years in federal prison if convicted as charged.
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