A Venezuelan woman was accused in the US of kidnapping, murder and the production of child pornography

Moraima Escarlet Vasquez Flores, a 39-year-old woman also known as Johana Martinez, faced US Justice for the first time today. In front of a magistrate in Burlington, Vermont, Vasquez Flores heard the accusations that weigh on his head: conspiring to kidnap and murder a person in a foreign country, conspiring to produce and produce child pornography, and facilitating the reception of such child pornography.

After hearing the charges, the Venezuelan woman pleaded not guilty, and Judge Kevin J. Doyle granted the prosecution's motion for arrest and ordered that Vasquez Flores be detained pending trial.

“According to court records, in September 2018, Vasquez Flores, then in Venezuela, would have communicated via WhatsApp with Sean Fiore, who was then in Vermont. Both used aliases. WhatsApp communications were about Fiore's interest in buying a video showing the torture of a kidnapped child, whom they referred to as a 'slave'. Fiore ended up paying Vásquez Flores $600 in Amazon gift cards for the video. Fiore sent specific instructions about the abuse she wished to see inflicted on the child. On October 3, 2018, Vasquez Flores allegedly sent Fiore a hyperlink to a video file that showed Vasquez Flores inflicting sadistic abuse on a pre-adolescent child consistent with Fiore's specifications,” the US Department of Justice said in a statement.

Sean Fiore is also part of this plot, and last year he was sentenced in the United States to 27 years in prison for his commission to Vasquez Flores. Fiore, 38, had pleaded guilty in October 2021 to calling for a person to be abducted and killed abroad, to murder for hire and child pornography.

“On October 13, 2018, Vasquez Flores reportedly sent Fiore three video files showing the sadistic abuse of a prepubescent child. Fiore did not commission the production of these video files,” the Justice Department added.

The US agency also revealed that “Fiore sent specifications on the types of physical abuse, humiliation and manner of death she wanted to see in the video. In December 2018, Fiore agreed to pay $4,000 for this video. In April 2019, Vasquez Flores allegedly sent Fiore a hyperlink to a 58-minute video file showing the sadistic abuse requested and the possible death of an adult male.”

Federal Prosecutor Nikolas P. Kerest is pursuing this case on behalf of the US State and before today's hearing commended the efforts of local agencies in the investigation of Vasquez Flores and Fiore.

Barbara A. Masterson, Deputy U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont, Patrick Jasperse, trial attorney with the Human Rights and Special Proceedings Section of the Department of Justice, and Eduardo Palomo, trial attorney in the Department of Justice's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, represent the government. Vasquez Flores will be represented by the Office of the Federal Public Defender.

As reported by the Department of Justice, “this case was filed as part of the Safe Childhood Project, a national initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.”

“Led by the U.S. Attorney's Offices and the Obscenity and Child Exploitation Section of the Criminal Division (CEOS), the Safe Childhood Project brings together federal, state and local resources to better locate, arrest and prosecute individuals who exploit children through the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue the victims”, concluded the statement.

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