In a case termed “chilling” by a U.S. Attorney, a Bangor man was arrested Friday in a Los Angeles area hotel on charges of “travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct,” a felony punishable by up to 30 years in federal prison.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said Matthew Edward Pysher, 18, was taken into custody at the Castaic Motel in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Police said he enticed a 13-year-old girl to send him sexually explicit material of herself and images of self-harm over the internet, a pattern of abuse consistent with nihilistic violent extremist ideology.

According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, from at least December 2025 until Feb. 20, Pysher groomed and encouraged the victim to send him material of herself engaging in sexually explicit acts. He also encouraged the victim to cut herself and engage in other acts of self-harm.

Officials said on Feb. 10, the girl’s mother contacted the FBI because she was concerned her daughter was being encouraged to harm herself by a person named “Matthew” someone her daughter met on the Discord online platform.

Police said the Discord server was for people suffering from mental illness.

The affidavit states on Feb. 20, Pysher traveled to Los Angeles to engage in sexual activity with the victim. Pysher met the victim near her home and took her to the motel.

When law enforcement arrived at the motel room, they encountered Pysher and the victim and found condoms, a knife, lubricant, razor blades, bloody tissues and a boarding pass for Pysher’s flight from Philadelphia to Los Angeles. They also found a faraday bag, commonly used to block electronic signals, near Pysher’s cellphone.

Police said the girl told them she and Pysher had engaged in sexual conduct and that he had used a knife to repeatedly cut her.

Based on a review of the victim’s phone and Pysher’s online activities, law enforcement believes Pysher is associated with NVE ideology.

The complaint details the nature of NVEs, including 764, a group whose members are known to the FBI to engage in criminal conduct 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.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said the “facts of the case are chilling,” adding, “If your children have access to use the internet, sadistic predators may have access to your kids. Law enforcement will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute those who seek to harm children. We advise parents to keep their kids offline.”

Pysher is “one of a growing number of alleged nihilistic violent extremists who prey on children and talk them into compromising sex acts and self-mutilation,” said Akil Davis, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. According to the attorney’s office, NVEs often target vulnerable people, and frequently use social media platforms to share child sexual abuse material or gore material or to groom victims toward committing acts of violence. NVEs and their members frequently extort or blackmail victims into complying with NVE demands, which vary but may include self-mutilation; online and in-person sexual acts; harm to animals; sexual exploitation of siblings and others; acts of violence; and threats of violence, suicide, and murder.

Sheriff Robert G. Luna of Los Angeles County said, “Because of the swift and coordinated efforts of local and federal law enforcement, and the decisive action of a vigilant mother who immediately contacted law enforcement, this young victim was safely recovered, and further harm was prevented. We will continue to work with our local and federal partners, using every investigative tool available, to protect our youth and hold predators accountable in Los Angeles County.”

The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is comprised of various agencies including the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Los Angeles Police Department, and California Highway Patrol, is investigating this matter.