Overview
- Matthew Edward Pysher, 18, was arrested Feb. 20 at a Castaic, California motel and charged federally with travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, a felony carrying up to 30 years.
- Prosecutors say he met the girl on a Discord server focused on mental health, groomed her to share explicit images and self-harm content, then flew from Philadelphia to Los Angeles to meet her.
- Agents recovered condoms, a knife, razor blades, lubricant, bloody tissues, a Faraday bag and Pysher’s boarding pass; the victim told law enforcement he had sex with her, cut her and choked her.
- The girl’s mother alerted the FBI on Feb. 10, the teen later left a suicide note, and investigators tracked her phone to the motel; court filings describe an alleged plan to jump from a tall hotel.
- Pysher made an initial court appearance and was ordered detained pending trial with arraignment set for March 31, as authorities review device data and pursue leads tied to NVE and the 764 network, with the FBI probing more than 450 similar cases.