LOS ANGELES, California — A 26-year-old man from Spring, Texas, has pleaded guilty to leading a child exploitation enterprise linked to an extremist group targeting children online.
Kaleb Christopher Merritt, also known as “eTerror,” admitted to engaging in a child exploitation enterprise, according to a press release. Merritt is currently in federal custody in Los Angeles and is serving a 33-year prison sentence in Virginia. “Going after dangerous pedophiles is one of the top priorities of our office,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “This sick, perverted criminal led an effort to prey on vulnerable children through the internet.”
Merritt was a member and leader of CVLT, a group dedicated to the online sexual exploitation of children, primarily vulnerable girls. The group, which included co-defendants Clint Jordan Lopaka Nahooikaika Borge, 42, of Pahoa, Hawaii, Rohan Rane, 29, and Collin John Thomas Walker, 24, of Bridgeton, New Jersey, worked together to coerce children into producing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and engaging in self-harm…