LOS ANGELES (TCN) — A man has been arrested and federally charged after allegedly traveling across state lines to have sex with a 13-year-old he met and groomed online.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California announced that on Feb. 20, 18-year-old Matthew Edward Pysher was arrested and charged in a federal criminal complaint with travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, from at least December 2025 until Feb. 20, Pysher allegedly groomed the victim and encouraged her to send him material of herself engaging in explicit acts and also encouraged her to engage in cutting and other self-harm.
The mother of the victim, whose name has not been released, contacted authorities on Feb. 10 to report that her daughter was encouraged to harm herself by a person named Matthew, whom she reportedly met on a Discord server for people suffering from mental illness, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
On Feb. 20, Pysher allegedly traveled to Los Angeles, California, from his home in Pennsylvania, met the victim near her home, and traveled with her to a motel, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Law enforcement arriving at their motel room found condoms, a knife, lubricant, razor blades, and bloody tissues, as well as a Faraday bag, which blocks electronic signals, near his cellphone. The victim told authorities she and Pysher had engaged in sexual activity and that he had cut her multiple times with a knife.
KTLA reports the victim said the two planned on committing suicide together but were unable to do so because law enforcement found them. According to a criminal complaint obtained by the outlet, the victim’s grandfather reportedly found a suicide note and discovered she had run away on the same day she arrived in California.
A review of the contents of the victim’s phone and a search of Pysher’s online activities led law enforcement to theorize that Pysher is affiliated with nihilistic violent extremist ideology, also known as NVE.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office describes members of NVE groups as engaging “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.”
Such groups reportedly target vulnerable people, including minors, and frequently use social media to connect with and groom victims with child sexual abuse material and gore to ease them into committing acts of self-harm or violence. The U.S. attorney’s office says that such groups, including the most well-known, 764, frequently extort or blackmail victims into complying with their demands.
According to authorities, Pysher’s digital devices contained evidence including information about additional minor victims, per KTLA. At a press conference on Feb. 23, federal officials showed messages between Pysher and his alleged victim.
A message from Jan. 24 read, “I just think red is a very pretty color and I like how blood looks on skin. I think blades are hot, and I like the idea of someone doing something like that for me.” A message in response read, “I just want to be the best for you haha.”
If convicted, Pysher could face up to 30 years in federal prison. WHP reports he was ordered held without bond at his first court appearance on Feb. 23. He is scheduled to appear in court again on March 31.
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