Pennsylvania man charged with traveling to Los Angeles for sex with 13-year-old girl
Federal prosecutors on Monday charged a Pennsylvania man after he allegedly traveled to the Los Angeles area with the sole intent of sexually abusing a teenage girl.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, 18-year-old Matthew Edward Pysher of Bangor, Pennsylvania, was arrested Friday in Castaic and charged in a federal courtroom in downtown Los Angeles on Monday.
Pysher, who prosecutors said is associated with nihilistic violent extremist ideology, is accused of grooming a 13-year-old girl from across the country and convincing her to send him sexually explicit material of herself and images of self-harm.
Prosecutors say that the relationship began in December 2025 after they met on a Discord server "related to individuals suffering from mental illness." The girl, who was not identified in the news release due to her age, was groomed by Pysher and encouraged to cut herself.
The girl's mother contacted the FBI on Feb. 10 after learning about the relationship, prosecutors said.
On Feb. 20, Pysher flew from Philadelphia to Los Angeles "to engage in sexual activity with the victim," the release says. That same day, he picked the girl up near her home and took her to a motel in nearby Castaic.
Law enforcement officers later arrived at the motel and encountered Pysher and the victim. The officers found condoms, a knife, lubricant, razor blades, bloody tissues, a Faraday bag commonly used to block electronic signals and a boarding pass for Pysher's flight in his motel room.
When speaking to law enforcement, the girl said she and Pysher engaged in sexual activity and that he cut her repeatedly with a knife.
A search of the girl's phone and Pysher's online activities caused authorities to believe he's associated with nihilistic violent extremist ideology.
"NVEs often target vulnerable individuals, including minors, and frequently use social media platforms to share child sexual abuse material or gore material or to groom victims toward committing acts of violence," the release says. "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."
Pysher was charged with travel with a felony for the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. If convicted, he can be sentenced to up to 30 years in federal prison.
