Virginia Reaper Who Made Teen Girl Carve His Name Into Her Leg Learns Prison Fate
According to officials, a 26-year-old man from Virginia who led an internet group that harassed and intimidated teenage females online will serve years in federal prison.
Strauss, Evan
Moneta resident Evan Strauss, also known as “Reaper” and Kobe Deonsons, pleaded guilty to stalking and child pornography charges last year and was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Thursday, August 1.
He was accused of controlling and harassing a 17-year-old Wyoming girl for months after they developed a poisonous internet relationship.
The kid, who is only known as kid A in court filings, was singled out online and forced to do unsettling things.
Strauss would yell at her, threaten her, and look up private information about her and her family, according to federal prosecutors.
If she didn’t follow his instructions, he threatened to swat her home and make a fictitious emergency call to summon the police. In addition, he threatened to have her sisters taken away by social services or to kill her, her family, and her cat.
Strauss also asserted that he had previously slaughtered animals.
According to investigators, the girl obeyed Strauss’s orders out of fear. She even etched the word “Reaper” into her upper thigh at his command.
When FBI officers raided Strauss’s house on January 24, 2024, they found an iPhone that had numerous pictures and videos of minors.
These files included images of Minor A cutting herself, a secret video Strauss recorded of her masturbating with a hairbrush, and pictures of her with Reaper carved into her leg.
Strauss admitted to investigators that he was a member of the Community, an online club with about 200 members. He claimed to be in charge of a subgroup known as Purgatory.
Court filings state that the group’s members extorted women and girls by swatting, hacking, blackmailing, and forcing them to injure themselves or acquire sexual pictures.
According to Stephen Farina, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Division, the internet provides young people with an easily available means of discovering a sense of community. Predators such as Strauss and other Community members prey on these gullible victims while hiding behind their screens.
“This sentencing should be a reminder that if you seek to manipulate, threaten, and extort minors you cannot hide.”
The sentence “reflects the serious nature of these crimes and the real danger young people face in today’s online environment,” said US Attorney C. Todd Gilbert.
We witness young people engaging in online relationships much too frequently, which swiftly escalate into bullying, harassment, abuse, and other heinous and predatory behaviors,” he continued.
But when such conduct becomes illegal, as it has in this instance, the Department of Justice will take all necessary steps to safeguard crime victims and hold offenders fully accountable.
