‘Can’t count how many times I’ve done that!’: Man proudly boasted about drugging woman and sharing videos of her with Telegram group

The intersection of encrypted digital messaging, toxic internet subcultures, and gender-based violence has manifested in one of the most chilling phenomena of the modern era: organized, digital sexual predation. A stark illustration of this crisis emerged when investigative journalists and law enforcement infiltrated private chat groups on the messaging application Telegram. Within these hidden digital rooms, a man proudly boasted about repeatedly chemically sedating a woman, declaring to fellow group members, “Can’t count how many times I’ve done that!”

This chilling boast was not an isolated outburst. Instead, it was part of a larger, deeply disturbing reality where perpetrators use encrypted networks to share tips on acquiring sedatives, broadcast videos of non-consensual sexual abuse, and cultivate a horrifyingly supportive community of like-minded abusers. Following global shockwaves from high-profile judicial reckonings—such as the landmark trial of Dominique Pelicot in France—revelations of these digital undergrounds have ignited intense discussions regarding platform accountability, digital ethics, and the evolving nature of sexual violence.

The Anatomy of the Digital Underground

For months, undercover investigations by major international outlets, including investigative teams at Germany’s NDR and global networks like CNN, targeted a sprawling ecosystem of illicit chat groups operating largely on Telegram. Unlike traditional dark web sites that require complex software to access, these channels are built on mainstream, user-friendly applications, hidden just behind private invite links.

Within these channels, the primary focus is what participants call “sleep content”—a benign-sounding euphemism for the filming, cataloging, and livestreaming of women who have been heavily drugged into unconsciousness. The specific perpetrator highlighted in recent investigative disclosures used his platform presence to display absolute casualness regarding his crimes. When discussing the mechanics of slipping sedatives into a victim’s drink or food to ensure total non-responsiveness, his statement—”Can’t count how many times I’ve done that!”—exposed a deep-seated sense of normalization and impunity.

In these communities, an admission of a severe crime is treated as social currency. Members do not react with horror; instead, they reply with emojis, request video proof, and exchange technical advice on chemical dosages. This creates a digital echo chamber where the severe violation of a human being’s bodily autonomy is gamified and transformed into content for peer amusement.

The Operational Mechanics: Drugs, Videos, and Mutual Support

The operational framework of these Telegram groups is highly organized, structured around three core pillars: substance procurement, digital distribution, and mutual validation.

Substance Sourcing and Tutorials

A significant portion of the conversation in these groups involves tutorials on how to obtain powerful prescription sedatives, tranquilizers, or illicit substances like GHB without raising medical or legal red flags. Users exchange tips on what to say to doctors to get specific prescriptions or provide links to underground vendors who ship these chemicals directly.

The Production and Distribution of “Content”

The boast of having committed the act multiple times is almost always accompanied by a demand for visual evidence. Perpetrators routinely upload explicit photos and extended videos of their unconscious victims. In some cases, these networks have even facilitated live streams, allowing thousands of anonymous users worldwide to watch assaults unfold in real-time. Because the victims are entirely incapacitated, they are completely unaware that their likeness and bodies are being broadcast to an international audience.

Community Validation

The social dynamics within these chat rooms explicitly reward escalation. Perpetrators who upload higher-quality footage or show a higher frequency of abuse receive elevated status within the group’s hierarchy. This dynamic directly incentivizes continuous abuse, as individuals compete for digital clout by documenting the systematic violation of the women in their lives.

Chemical Submission in Intimate Spaces

One of the most terrifying aspects of these revelations is that the abuse frequently happens within domestic, supposedly safe environments. Investigations have revealed that many of these perpetrators are not strangers hiding in alleys; they are husbands, long-term partners, or trusted friends.

This mirrors the unsettling details of the case against Dominique Pelicot in France and subsequent criminal prosecutions in Germany, where men systematically drugged their wives over years, sometimes decades. The victims often spent years suffering from unexplained chronic fatigue, sudden memory lapses, and mysterious physical ailments, entirely unaware that the partner cooking their dinner or pouring their evening wine was chemically inducing their symptoms.

When a perpetrator boasts online that they have lost count of how many times they have drugged a victim, it underscores the prolonged, agonizing nature of this crime. It highlights a terrifying reality where a home becomes a crime scene, and the concept of basic safety is thoroughly dismantled.

The Challenge of Encrypted Platforms and Legal Frameworks

The reliance on platforms like Telegram is highly deliberate. Marketed on the premise of absolute privacy and strict encryption, Telegram has long been a double-edged sword. While its privacy features are vital tools for political dissidents and journalists operating under authoritarian regimes, those exact same features provide a robust shield for criminal networks.

Historically, the platform’s moderation policies have been notoriously hands-off compared to mainstream competitors like Meta or Google. This hands-off approach has made it exceedingly difficult for law enforcement agencies to track down group administrators, obtain IP addresses, or intercept explicit media before it spreads across multiple mirror channels. Even when a specific group is successfully reported and banned, organizers quickly migrate their user base to a new channel within minutes using pre-established backup links.

Furthermore, traditional legal systems worldwide are often poorly equipped to handle the nuances of digital chemical submission. Many sexual assault laws are anchored in older frameworks that assume physical resistance or verbal coercion. When a victim is completely unconscious due to surreptitious drugging, documenting the physical evidence of assault days or weeks after the fact becomes an immense forensic challenge, especially given how rapidly many sedatives metabolize and leave the human body.

Shifting the Shame and Demanding Accountability

As these investigations bring the horrifying reality of encrypted abuse networks into the public eye, global advocacy groups and legal experts are pushing for massive systemic reforms. The conversation is shifting away from advising women on how to protect their drinks toward aggressively dismantling the digital infrastructure that enables abusers.

The public stance of survivors, most notably Gisèle Pelicot, has fundamentally altered the discourse surrounding these crimes. By waiving her right to legal anonymity and demanding public trials, she explicitly forced a shift in focus: the shame must belong entirely to the perpetrators, not the victims. This philosophy is driving current efforts to hold both individual abusers and the digital platforms that host them legally accountable.

Addressing this crisis requires a multifaceted approach:

• Platform Responsibility: Demanding that encrypted messaging apps implement proactive, AI-driven detection tools to flag explicit “sleep content” and actively cooperate with international law enforcement to dismantle abuse rings.
• Medical Safeguards: Tightening controls around the prescription and distribution of powerful sedatives, ensuring that medical professionals are trained to recognize signs of potential misuse.
• Legal Modernization: Updating criminal codes to explicitly recognize and severely penalize digital complicity, the non-consensual filming of incapacitated individuals, and the distribution of assault material online.

The flippant boast of a man who lost count of the times he drugged a woman is a stark reminder of how easily cruelty can hide behind a screen. It exposes a digital reality where violence is packaged as entertainment, and trust is weaponized for online status. Confronting this crisis requires a unified effort from law enforcement, tech platforms, and society to ensure that the internet can no longer be used as a safe haven for exploitation.