Man charged with murder over US teen’s livestreamed suicide

A German-Iranian man, known as 'White Tiger', was charged with 204 crimes, including murder. Photo / 123rf

A man accused of luring children worldwide into a sadistic online abuse network was charged by German prosecutors Wednesday with hundreds of crimes – including murder, for a 13-year-old American’s livestreamed suicide.

Using the pseudonym “White Tiger”, the 21-year-old Hamburg man, a German-Iranian national, allegedly victimised more than 30 children with online sexual abuse, manipulation and exploitation as a part of a virtual network of abusers known as “764”.

He allegedly coerced a US boy, 13, into killing himself in 2022, which was broadcast via livestream.

Authorities said the crimes occurred between January 2021, when the suspect was 16, and September 2023, when he was 19.

Prosecutors in Hamburg announced 204 criminal charges against him, including allegations of committing one murder and five attempted murders as an “indirect perpetrator”.

“White Tiger” would find vulnerable children and adolescents in online chats or games, develop a bond to groom them for abuse, then exploit them into producing pornographic content and harming themselves on video, authorities said.

The man was arrested at his parents’ home in June.

Authorities said at the time they had identified eight victims of “White Tiger” aged between 11 and 15 from Germany, England, Canada and the United States.

The case has caused horrified reactions and prompted questions about whether German authorities could have acted sooner and prevented some of the abuse.

The Zeit newspaper reported that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in the United States alerted German authorities in 2021 to an apparently Hamburg-based predator going by the name of “White Tiger”.

According to the newspaper, NCMEC provided a roughly 40-page document containing chat transcripts from the Discord online platform in which “White Tiger” demanded photos from two young girls, urging them to harm themselves and suggesting they take their own lives.

Police questioned the suspect at the time, but he was not arrested until this year.

During the arrest, police also seized illegal weapons – knives, brass knuckles and a baton – as well as computers and hard drives, which are still being analysed, according to prosecutors.

Criminal proceedings will be held behind closed doors, the Hamburg public prosecutor’s office said.

SUICIDE AND DEPRESSION

Where to get help:

• Lifeline: Call 0800 543 354 or text 4357 (HELP) (available 24/7)
• Suicide Crisis Helpline: Call 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO) (available 24/7)
• Youth services: (06) 3555 906• Youthline: Call 0800 376 633 or text 234
• What’s Up: Call 0800 942 8787 (11am to 11pm) or webchat (11am to 10.30pm)
• Depression helpline: Call 0800 111 757 or text 4202 (available 24/7)
• Aoake te Rā – Free, brief therapeutic support service for those bereaved by suicide. Call 0800 000 053.
• • Helpline: Need to talk? Call or text 1737

If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111

-Agence France-Presse