Source: United States Department of Justice News
A Vermont man was sentenced today to 27 years in prison for paying a woman in Venezuela to make videos for his sexual pleasure in which victims were sadistically abused and at least one video in which he demanded a victim be killed.
Sean Fiore, 38, of Burlington, pleaded guilty in October 2021 to conspiracy to kidnap and kill a person overseas, murder-for-hire, conspiracy to produce child pornography, and possession of child pornography.
“The defendant paid for and scripted unspeakably vile and horrific videos of a child being tormented, and an adult sadistically abused,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “This prosecution, in partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), sends a clear message that these reprehensible acts will not go unanswered or unpunished.”
“It is difficult to imagine more depraved conduct than that of Sean Fiore,” said U.S. Attorney Nikolas P. Kerest for the District of Vermont. “We are grateful for the tremendous support and teamwork provided by HSI and Vermont’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force during the investigation of this case. We are also thankful for our partners in the Criminal Division in Washington, D.C., who helped bring Fiore to justice. This office along with its partners will continue to prioritize protecting the vulnerable and prosecuting dangerous offenders such as Fiore.”
“Fiore committed some of the darkest, most heinous deeds humanity can imagine,” said Special Agent in Charge Matthew Millhollin for HSI in New England. “Today’s sentence ensures that he will be locked away, unable to repeat the depraved crimes he has admitted to. We are grateful to our partners here in Vermont and around the world who worked tirelessly alongside us to investigate and prosecute this case.”
According to court documents, Fiore paid a woman in Venezuela $600 to produce a video that depicted the sadistic abuse of a prepubescent child. After Fiore received that video, he paid the woman approximately $4,000 for another video, this time to kidnap “a slave,” show his brutal abuse, and kill him. Specifically, Fiore sent the woman a 600-word script with the details of what he wanted the video to show, including her hitting and kicking the victim, burning him with cigarettes, urinating and defecating on him, filling his mouth with feces, wrapping his head with plastic, and smothering him to death by sitting on his face. Fiore then received a 58-minute video, in which, at the end, the adult male victim appeared to be dead.
Also, according to court documents, in May 2019 Fiore possessed videos and other images depicting the sadistic sexual abuse of prepubescent minors.
Moraima Escarlet Vasquez Flores, 39, of Colombia, the woman accused of sending Fiore the videos and of conspiring with him to produce child pornography, is charged with conspiracy to murder and kidnap a person in a foreign country, conspiracy to produce child pornography, production of child pornography, and aiding and abetting the receipt of child pornography. Vasquez Flores was arrested in Colombia in September 2020, and Colombia recently approved her extradition to the United States. The charges against Vasquez Flores are merely allegations and she is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Trial Attorney Patrick Jasperse of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section, Trial Attorney Eduardo Palomo of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Barbara Masterson for the District of Vermont are prosecuting the case with the assistance of the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs.