14-year-old named Pagan apparently linked to satanic group is charged with threatening church massacre, child pornography

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office in Tampa, Florida, has arrested a 14-year-old on terrorism and child pornography charges.

Sheriff Chad Chronister told reporters on Wednesday that "threats of mass violence and the exploitation of children are some of the most heinous crimes we investigate — and this case was no different."

'Images too graphic and too disturbing to discuss because they would keep all of you up at night.'

After receiving a tip on Jan. 31 that Jose Pagan Jr. had access to firearms and was plotting a massacre at a church near his home in Wimauma, the HCSO searched the teen suspect's family home, where officers found weapons, ammunition, and electronic devices containing horrific child pornography.

The sheriff indicated that Pagan — who was spotted in a photo wearing a No Lives Matter T-shirt and is apparently linked to a neo-Nazi satanic group — discussed in an online chat room associated with violent extremists his alleged plan to shoot up a church.

While Sheriff Chronister initially referred to the group as Temple of Love, his office confirmed to Blaze News on Thursday that Pagan was involved with the group Tempel ov Blood.

According to the Mapping Militants Project, Tempel ov Blood describes itself as a "hybrid between a traditional satanic coven and a (religious) militant order." FBI informant Joshua Caleb Sutter — a convicted felon who publishes neo-Nazi propaganda — has long led the group out of South Carolina.

RELATED: Radical teen who plotted to kill Trump and lived with corpses of slain parents pleads guilty

Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun Staff

TOB is apparently an American affiliate of the Order of Nine Angles, a global satanic pedophile cult known for anti-Semitism, hatred for Christianity, identitarianism, and admiration of Adolf Hitler and other loathsome historic figures. Its members have in the past reportedly encouraged their minor victims to commit suicide.

A Wisconsin teen who pleaded guilty last month to murdering his parents as part of a broader plot to assassinate President Donald Trump apparently was an adherent to the global satanic group's teachings.

Sheriff Chronister noted that days prior to executing the search warrant, his office received information from the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force about a possible mass shooting plot as well as information from a child exploitation hotline about child pornography possibly being downloaded at the same residence.

During the search of Pagan's home, detectives "discovered 14 extremely graphic, disturbing images where individuals were inflicting violence toward infants and toddlers — images too graphic and too disturbing to discuss because they would keep all of you up at night," Chronister said.

While most of the firearms in the house were found locked in a safe, authorities indicated that one firearm was easily accessible and stored in the father's nightstand.

Pagan was charged with written or electronic threat to conduct a mass shooting or act of terrorism; in-state transmission of child pornography by electronic device; multiple counts of solicitation or possession of child pornography; and multiple counts of unlawful use of a two-way communication device.

Although it's unclear if Pagan will be charged as an adult, Chronister stressed that "the age of the individual involved does not lessen the seriousness of these crimes."

The sheriff noted further that after the 21-day juvenile hold of the suspect, "based on the seriousness of these crimes, I am extremely worried about this 14-year-old integrating right back into our community, where our loved ones live."

The presence of law enforcement has greatly increased at two churches in the area, Chronister said.

The teen, who may face additional charges, told authorities he was just trying to be edgy.

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