Hilo man who led online extremist group sentenced to 10 years for child pornography

A Hilo man who co-founded and led an online extremist group has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for possessing child pornography, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Hawaiʻi announced.

Kalana Limkin, 20, was sentenced Thursday to the statutory maximum of 10 years in prison, followed by 20 years of supervised release, US Attorney Kenneth M. Sorenson said in a news release. Limkin pleaded guilty without a plea agreement on Feb. 13, 2025.

Limkin co-founded and led an online group called “Cultists,” which is part of a broader network of violent nihilistic extremists that targets vulnerable minors over the internet, prosecutors said. According to information presented to the court at sentencing, the group used graphic and disturbing content to build a following within that online extremist community, and its members worked together to manipulate and exploit children, encouraging self-harm and, in some cases, suicide.

Limkin’s conduct went beyond the possession charge, describing a pattern in which he coerced and manipulated minor victims using sexually explicit material and threats, federal prosecutors said.

Sorenson said Limkin’s case reflects a broader and troubling trend of extremists using the internet to target young people. Such offenders derive pleasure from causing young, impressionable victims to commit acts of self-harm, he said, adding that his office will continue to pursue those who exploit children online.

FBI Honolulu Special Agent in Charge David Porter said the group used exploitative tactics to push children into cycles of abuse. The FBI and its partners are committed to dismantling such networks and protecting vulnerable members of the community from online predators, he said.

The FBI investigated the case. Assistant US Attorney Mohammad Khatib prosecuted it, with assistance from trial attorneys Justin Sher and James Donnelly of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Counterterrorism Section.