MACOMB TOWNSHIP, Mich. – An 18-year-old from Macomb County is facing federal charges centered around child pornography and graphic animal torturing videos.
Jolyan Raeed Zahrah is accused of having multiple Discord accounts and using them to distribute child pornography and animal torturing videos on various Discord servers.
The National Center for Missing and Endangered Children (NCMEC) reported to the FBI about a tip they received that a Discord user uploaded a file categorized as child pornography to the social media platform on Jan. 3, 2025.
On Jan. 4, 2025, NCMEC also reported that another Discord user uploaded child pornography to Discord. The FBI said the account used in this Discord account shared the same IP address as the first Discord account that had been reported.
FBI agents executed a search warrant at a home in Macomb County that was under the IP address associated with the Discord accounts on April 11, 2025. Zahrah’s phone was seized during the search.
While reviewing Zahrah’s phone, FBI agents found that his phone was logged into 13 total Gmail accounts.
18-year-old talks to FBI
During a post-Miranda interview on April 11, 2025, Zahrah reportedly admitted to using many different Discord usernames. He also reportedly admitted that he was currently an administrator of a specific Discord server, a role he obtained in 2023.
According to court documents, he showed knowledge of 764-related activity and indicated to agents that 764 was related to the server he was an administrator of “in some vague way.”
He allegedly described 764-related activities as getting young girls to harm themselves. He reportedly told the FBI he knew there were “things with children,” blood and satanism. He reportedly added that he knows 764 tells people to kill their pets and do sexually explicit things in order to control a person.
He reportedly acknowledged seeing child porn on the Discord server around 2024. He said he saw images of children between 5 and 10 years old.
Throughout the interview, court documents claim he tried to minimize his involvement in the child porn on the Discord server by claiming he never shared those images. He said child porn would be on the Discord server once every week or every two weeks.
He told agents at the end of the interview that he has said “terrible things,” and things he was “not proud of.”
What is 764?
According to the FBI, 764 and related groups are Nihilistic Violent Extremists who engage in criminal conduct within the United States and engage with other extremists.
The 764 network’s goals include social unrest and the downfall of the current world order, including the United States government, said the FBI.
Members of 764 work with one another towards a common purpose of destroying civilized society through “the corruption and exploitation of vulnerable populations, including minors.”
Child porn, animal crushing found on phone
The FBI said they searched further into Zahrah’s phone and found some child pornography. Agents said theyalso found numerous photos and videos of “animal crushing.”
Animal crushing is defined as animals being tortured or killed in various disturbing ways.
The FBI uncovered dozens of videos depicting sexual and torturous acts on animals, including puppies, kittens, turtles, deer, rats, snakes and frogs, according to authorities.
The FBI said they searched through Zahrah’s Discord accounts and found that he had multiple videos of animals being tortured.
It’s alleged that the 18-year-old shared the videos to a variety of group chats and direct messages. In direct messages with one Discord user, Zahrah and the other user would allegedly join different Discord servers to “spam gore” and engage in “gorebombing.”
According to the FBI, gorebombing is when gore videos are repeatedly sent in rapid succession to expose as many users in the group as possible to the content.
The FBI said Zahrah stated in a chat, “I watched child porn and didn’t get hard to it so I’m not a paedophile [sic]. .. It’s legal for me to do that test since I’m also a minor. . . I got more pleasure kicking dogs.”
The FBI believed that Zahrah’s Discord accounts display behavior and distribution of content that is consistent with 764-related activity.
Searches about school shootings, gun purchase
During Zahrah’s hearing in federal court on June 18, a prosecutor struggled to maintain composure in court.
The prosecutor read the criminal complaint, detailing the charges, which are too graphic to repeat.
The emotional weight of the case led the prosecutor to take a brief break before continuing.
--> FBI arrests Macomb County teen after discovery of graphic child, animal abuse videos
Along with reviewing the criminal complaint, prosecutors revealed that they have only begun to investigate two of the usernames linked to the case out of more than a dozen. They felt compelled to take action this week.
Prosecutors also referenced Zahrah’s alarming Google search history, which included queries about mass shootings, spree shootings, school shootings, and “how to buy a gun in Michigan.”
Prosecutors said the only question Zahrah asked the FBI when he was arrested was, “was anybody else from the group arrested?”
Zahrah’s defense attorney argued Wednesday that the teen suffers from newly-diagnosed mental health issues and was recently admitted to a facility for 15 days. Prosecutors argued in response that it was not until his arrest that mental health issues became apparent and the teen “had to be dragged” by U.S. Marshals to get help.
The judge stated Zahrah, allegedly involved in the 764 network since he was 14, appeared to not only be a victim of the network, but now called him “a perpetrator” of it, a danger to himself, his family and the community. Zahrah was ordered to be held without bond until a long-term mental health facility can be established.
The 18-year-old faces federal charges of distribution of child pornography and distribution of animal crush videos. He is due back in federal court on June 30, 2025.
FBI raid shocks neighbors
Neighbors shared their reactions as they were shocked by the FBI’s presence.
One neighbor recalled seeing a bunch of FBI out there and eventually knocking the door down.
The details of the charges have left residents on Ring Neck Drive in Macomb Township gasping.
“It’s scary. It’s very scary,” another neighbor said.
The FBI has visited the home at least twice. Witnesses described seeing Zahrah being taken away in handcuffs.
Community concerns
Residents expressed their fears, particularly parents with young children.
“It’s scary because I have a 7-year-old and a 14-year-old, and there are little kids running up and down the street all day,” one parent shared.
