Under the name "Team 94", a community of users has been carrying out weeks of using TikTok to search for videos of sexual abuse of babies, offering recordings and contacting possible buyers. They are recognized by the number 94, share photographs of an American man convicted of raping a 16-month-old baby, and even go as far as announcing abuse of minors from their own families. Maldita.es has identified more than 2,000 profiles related to this network during a 35-day investigation, in which it also found live broadcasts with recordings of sexual assaults against minors.
Pido perdón de antemano.
— Julio Montes (@Montesjulio) November 11, 2026
Hoy Titok debería responder sobre su algoritmo q ofrece abusos y su buscador q gracias a la investigación están empezando a capar.
Pero yo os voy a hablar de lo más duro que he vivido investigando.
El ‘Team 94’ y la "secta" pederasta de bebés
Among the 132 publications examined by the researchers there are 39 that include images of babies or young children who could have suffered sexual abuse. They accumulate more than one million views and receive comments from users asking for the complete videos or claiming to have others similar. Added to this are more than 2,000 comments potentially linked to pederasty, written mainly in Spanish.
Number 94, the code that identifies the followers of a man convicted of violating a baby
Behind the name "Team 94" is the case of Matthew Estes, convicted in the United States in 2025 to 60 years in prison for violating a 16-month-old baby, recording the assault and distributing the images. The number comes from the jersey number he wore when he played American football and has become the main reference for those who admire him.
Also known as "Mattlovers", his followers reproduce photographs of the convicted man and use images of his T-shirt in their profiles. At least 200 of the accounts identified by Maldita.es contain explicit references to Estes, while some manage to impersonate his identity.
In certain publications, the emoji of an American football partially covers images of babies. Also circulating are photographs generated with artificial intelligence that present the convicted man as an angel, a god, or a king.
The meaning of these symbols appears in the private conversations compiled during the investigation. Before offering recordings, some users ask their interlocutors whether they know the number 94 or whether they know who Estes is. A positive answer is sometimes enough for them to start talking about the material they claim to have.
Video offers in the comments and abuses broadcast live
Of the 132 publications analyzed by Maldita.es, some glorify Estes or recreate the place where he committed his crimes. Others contain excerpts from the recordings for which he was convicted. In 39 appear baby or young child images that, according to the researchers, could have suffered sexual abuse.
Under these publications, requests for complete recordings and offers of similar videos accumulate. More than 2,000 comments have been identified as potentially related to pederasty, with Spanish predominating, followed by English and Portuguese.
At least twelve messages contain offers or requests for child sexual abuse material related to minors from the participants’ family environment. Those who write them claim to have videos of nephews, younger brothers, or children.
On October 7, 2026, around 17:00 in Spain, Maldita.es witnessed a live broadcast during which a follower of the "Team 94" played a video of Matthew Estes sexually assaulting a baby several times. The recording corresponded to an earlier abuse, but it was disseminated publicly during the broadcast.
At least 31 accounts participated in that live. While some viewers requested to exchange videos, others reacted with hearts. One of the users asked whether anyone connected from Spain.
After that broadcast, the same profile organized at least two other live streams in which several participants exchanged contacts to buy or obtain child sexual abuse material. On October 13, when Maldita.es checked again for its availability, the account was still active.
Private messages with offers of abuse toward children and other family members
To investigate the exchanges, Maldita.es contacted privately several members of the "Team 94" who claimed to have recordings of their own. Before talking about the videos, some asked whether their counterpart knew the meaning of the number 94 or belonged to the group.
In one of those conversations, a user who claimed to be a father offered to sexually abuse his son during a video call. The investigators kept screenshots of the exchange, although they could not confirm the identity of the counterpart or verify the truth of his claims.
They also received offers of recordings of alleged abuse of nephews and younger brothers. Several of the contacted users claimed to be in Spain.
Not everyone waits for someone to message them. Some accounts announce in their own bios that they have videos and provide contact details for those who want to get them.
Telegram and Zangi, the routes to continue the exchanges outside of TikTok
During the 35 days that the investigation lasted, 200 profiles publicly provided contacts to continue conversations outside of TikTok, mainly on Telegram and, to a lesser extent, on Zangi. In 31 cases, the accounts included explicit instructions to acquire child sexual abuse material.
Contact details appear sometimes in biographies and other times are shared after someone requests the recordings in comments or private messages.
Through Telegram, the investigators had conversations with users who claimed to have videos of Matthew Estes and other child sexual abuse. They also located sellers who offered bundles of recordings and paid access to private groups within the broader investigation into TikTok.
Thus, those who find an offer on the social network can continue the contact in messaging applications, where exchanges or payments for the advertised material are negotiated.
An investigation with more than 26,000 suspicious profiles and 48 million views
The work on the "Team 94" is part of Maldita.es's broader investigation into the circulation of child sexual abuse material on TikTok. In the course of their inquiries, the organization identified 1,183 videos classified as explicit child sexual abuse content, which accumulated 48 million views, and more than 26,000 profiles potentially related to these activities. At least 7,700 of the accounts used Spanish.
To check how the platform responded to reports, Maldita.es selected a sample of 50 videos and communicated them through the channels enabled by TikTok. Only five were removed and another thirteen were blocked for Spanish users. Three days later, 40% of the accounts that had shared the posts were still active.
Months earlier, the investigators had already warned the company about similar networks. They went so far as to provide information about 1,300 suspicious profiles after TikTok had failed to locate the reports submitted previously.
The complaint to the Prosecutor's Office and TikTok's response
After the publication of the findings, Maldita.es has filed a criminal complaint against TikTok with the Prosecutor's Office for Computer Crime. The Ministry of Youth and Childhood has also asked the General Prosecutor's Office of the State to investigate the facts and has requested an urgent meeting with the platform's representatives in Spain.
TikTok’s first measures have included the removal of posts and restrictions on certain searches related to the reported material. On November 10, Maldita.es found that two terms used to find this content had stopped producing results for some Spanish users. However, the same searches continued to work in other countries, including several European Union member states.
That day, the investigators located another 100 posts with material of child sexual abuse in just three hours, whose data they also forwarded to the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The company accuses Maldita.es of making it difficult to remove the content by not providing it directly with all the results of the investigation. From the organization, they reject that version and explain that sending by email videos of sexual abuse of minors or links that allow access to them would mean contributing to their dissemination. For that reason, they say they have resorted to the official reporting channels and to the competent authorities.
Julio Montes, director and cofounder of Maldita.es, has called on TikTok to acknowledge failures in its detection systems and agree to meet with the investigators. “We continue to wait for TikTok to accept the meeting we offered, recognize that its systems are failing... because I think we’ll all agree that it can’t be,” he wrote on X.
While the Public Prosecutor’s Office examines the reports, Maldita.es continues to demand measures to prevent the identified accounts from continuing to offer material of child sexual abuse. The restrictions announced so far have not prevented the investigators from finding new publications related to these crimes.