Rumaldo Valdez

Rumaldo Valdez, known online as "Duck," was a U.S. Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class (E-4) stationed at Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station Pacific in Wahiawa, Hawaii, a Department of Defense installation. He was a member of Greggy's Cult (also called the "Cult of Greg"), an online child exploitation network that operated on Discord and gaming platforms from approximately January 2020 through January 2021 and is documented as a direct predecessor to the 764 Network. The FBI arrested Valdez in May 2025 at the Wahiawa installation. He pleaded guilty on October 24, 2025, to possession of child pornography committed on a U.S. military base, and was sentenced in March 2026 to 97 months (approximately eight years) in federal prison plus 10 years of supervised release and $33,000 in restitution to 11 identified victims, by a federal judge in the District of Hawaii. Separate charges were pending against him in the Eastern District of New York as of that date.¹

Greggy's Cult Membership

Greggy's Cult operated from approximately January 2020 through January 2021 using methods that would later define the 764 network's operational model: recruiting minor victims through gaming platforms and social media, coercing them into producing child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and blackmailing them with that material to compel ongoing compliance and self-harm. NCITE tracked Greggy's Cult alongside CVLT and 764 as one of three connected networks accounting for 31 individuals publicly charged with federal crimes by December 2025.

Valdez's devices, seized at the time of his arrest, contained CSAM described in the government's sentencing memorandum as among "the most extreme child-abuse images in existence," stored in two password-encrypted digital containers.²

Hawaii Charges and Sentencing

State and federal investigators brought Valdez's case as possession of violent child pornography on a U.S. military installation, allowing federal jurisdiction. His October 24, 2025 guilty plea resolved the Hawaii charges, and his March 2026 sentencing imposed 97 months of incarceration, 10 years of supervised release, and $33,000 in restitution distributed to 11 identified victims.

Eastern District of New York Indictment

A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of New York unsealed an indictment on December 3, 2025, charging Valdez alongside four co-defendants on 10 counts including engaging in a child exploitation enterprise, producing child pornography, and making interstate threats. The co-defendants were Camden Rodriguez (22, Longmont, Colorado), Zachary Dosch (26, Albuquerque, New Mexico - who had separately pleaded guilty in 2022 to cyberstalking and child pornography charges but remained unsentenced), David Brilhante (28, San Diego, California), and Hector Bermudez (29, New York). The EDNY case was pending as of Valdez's March 2026 Hawaii sentencing.¹