Verdict looms over global Discord 'cult' ring accused of abusing children

This courtroom sketch made on October 5, 2026 shows Indian national Rohan Rane (L) appearing during his trial for having run a masculinist discussion group and over allegedly forcing minors in which young girls, most of them minors, were forced to engage in sexual acts online and to mutilate themselves, at the assizes courthouse in Paris - (AFP/Getty)

A 29-year-old Indian man faces a verdict Friday in a Paris trial over his alleged involvement in an international criminal network that targeted vulnerable children in the U.S., Britain and Canada and coerced them into producing violent and sexual videos.

The child victims were recruited via the online platform Discord to become “slaves” to a group known as CVLT, according to court documents in the case obtained by The Associated Press. At least three other members of the group have been arrested in the U.S.