'Satanist' Teenager Jailed After Encouraging Suicide, Plotting Homeless Man's Murder

• Cameron Finnigan, 19 — a member of a satanist extremist group — has been sentenced to six years in prison on charges including encouraging suicide and possessing indecent images of a child
• The teenager was sentenced at London’s Old Bailey on Thursday, Jan. 16
• “Cameron Finnigan was dangerous. There was a threat to public safety there,” Detective Chief Superintendent Claire Finlay, head of Counter Terrorism Policing South East, said, per the BBC

A 19-year-old involved in a satanist extremist group has been sentenced to six years in jail after encouraging suicide, among other charges, a court has heard.

On Thursday, Jan. 16, Cameron Finnigan appeared at London’s Old Bailey after previously pleading guilty to charges including possessing indecent images of a child, being in possession of a terrorism manual and encouraging suicide, the U.K’s Counter Terrorism Policing said in a news release.

Finnigan was handed a six-year sentence with an extended three-year license period, authorities confirmed. The teenager, who pleaded guilty to five charges, was also charged with two counts of criminal damage.

During their investigation, police seized Finnigan’s digital devices and discovered the teenager had become a part of a Satanic extremist group called ‘764.’ Per Sky News, group members would “discuss and post evidence of violent acts” on messaging platforms such as Telegram and Discord.

Counter Terrorism Policing said in a news release, “One Telegram chat recovered from Finnigan’s Chromebook, showed communication with an individual believed to be a young female, who told him she was considering suicide, which he encouraged her to carry out. He stated he wanted her to stream it so he can capture it and claim it for ‘764.’ He then boasted about this to others in his chat group.”

Finnigan was also found in possession of an 11-page PDF document outlining how to carry out ‘truck attacks’ and had filmed himself damaging a nearby parked car. The document also gave information on “attack planning including knife and firearm mass casualty attacks,” the release added.

Another of Finnigan’s Telegram group chats showed that he had posted a photo of a red tent in a field near his home with messaging suggesting he wanted to kill a homeless person. “He stated he would get the homeless man on his knees to submit to 764 ways, shoot him in the head and hide his body in a tent,” authorities continued, per the release. “The tent was subsequently located in a field and had graffiti associated with the ‘764’ group at both entrances to the field. This matched the red spray paint found in his room.”

While announcing the sentencing of another group member for sexual assault in November, the FBI called the ‘764’ group “a network of violent extremists who seek to normalize the production, sharing, and possession of child pornography and gore material to desensitize and corrupt youth toward future acts of violence,” per a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

“Members of 764 gain notoriety by systematically targeting, grooming, and extorting victims through online social media platforms. Members demand that victims engage in and share media of self-mutilation, sexual acts, harm to animals, acts of random violence, suicide, and murder, all for the purpose of accelerating chaos and disrupting society and the world order,” the FBI added, per the release.

Thursday’s hearing saw Finnigan — who is among at least four British teenagers to have been arrested in connection with the group, per the BBC — be told by Mr. Justice Jay that he posed “a high risk of serious harm to the public,” the outlet reported.

Finnigan was arrested in March 2024 after police responded to reports of him having a gun, per the BBC. The outlet stated that officers didn’t find a firearm, but did find the group discussions on the messaging platforms after searching through his digital devices.

Per the release, police also found Finnigan’s Snapchat gallery contained “images depicting text and symbols in red writing and a reference to ‘terror week.’ ”

Detective Chief Superintendent Claire Finlay, head of Counter Terrorism Policing South East, said, “If you can get someone to self-harm, you’re doing quite well in that group. If you can get them to kill themselves, you’re reaching the pinnacle,” per the BBC.

“This case has been very shocking,” Finlay added, according to the outlet. “Cameron Finnigan was dangerous. There was a threat to public safety there.”

The officer warned of the group, “We want to make the public aware of [764]. The threat that they pose, not just within the United Kingdom but globally, is immense.”

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. 

Police also found “a series of highly disturbing photographs of animal sacrifice, including one found in his bedroom of a mutilated rabbit,” per U.K. newspaper The Times. Satanic tapestry — known as the “Baphomet goat head” — was discovered over his bed at his family’s $1.2 million home, the outlet stated.

Per the BBC, U.S.-based investigator, Becca Spinks, was threatened by Finnigan after identifying him as a group member before his arrest. He threatened to rape and murder her in messages seen by the outlet.

“I very quickly realized that I had kicked a really nasty hornets’ nest,” Spinks told the publication. “The FBI told me that this group was very violent and very dangerous. It’s horrific, nightmare-inducing stuff.”

Per The Washington Post, 764 was founded by Bradley Cadenhead, then 15, in Texas. 

He’s currently serving an 80-year prison sentence after being arrested in 2021 for creating videos showing children being seriously injured, sexually abused, choked, beaten and suffocated after creating the group in 2020, according to the BBC.

The Crown Prosecution Service and the Old Bailey did not immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE. PEOPLE also reached out to Discord and Telegram, but did not immediately hear back.