A federal grand jury in Vermont returned an indictment against a 36-year-old nurse for child porn, murder, and kidnapping. This case shows just how powerful the reach of the Dark Web can be. While Sean Fiore was in Vermont completing his nurse practitioner, he had a man kidnapped, tortured, and murdered overseas just so he could watch the video.
Back in May of 2019, members of Homeland Security Investigations and the Vermont Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force searched his home. It was all part of a coordinated crackdown on child pornography. At the time, he was days away from graduating from the University of Vermont with a degree as a nurse practitioner.
Despite the fact that he was caught with child porn, he was let on bail. A few days later, the grand jury returned an indictment against Fiore for possession of child pornography. However, a grand jury indicted him once again in August of 2019 for receiving child pornography. Finally, in May of 2020, a judge ordered Fiore detained in jail pending trial because he violated the terms of his release.
Murder and Torture For Hire
But officials said child pornography is not his only crime. On August 13, a grand jury indicted him for using the Internet with the intent of hiring someone to commit murder for money. On September 15, the grand jury added four counts including conspiracy to commit kidnap and murder.
According to court documents, Fiore asked a person in another country to make a video depicting the beating, torture, and killing an adult male. Fiore explicitly communicated his preferences for the video. He sent the man $4,000 to make the grisly production.
Back in April of 2019, Fiore received a link from his accomplice and accessed a video. The video showed the torture and murder of an adult man tied to a bed. That indictment also added three additional child pornography counts.
“Red Room” Myth not a Myth
For years, people have speculated about the existence of a feature called a Red Room on the Darknet. A quick search of the human trash Peter Scully and his abhorrent company “No limits fun” will show that this sick and twisted world is very real.
In the Fiore case, he paid for the option to “direct” the film making. In a related case, two teenagers from Italy were arrested for paying to watch a live murder on the dark web.
In this, the darkest part of the dark web, there is a hierarchy of membership. Whoever pays the most becomes the “Producer” (often called the Master). They decide the content, “storyline”, and can even dictate the age, sex, and details about the preferred victim. From there, the second tier is simply the “watchers”. They pay to see the video play in real-time. The final tier (which is the cheapest and what got the Italian boys in trouble) are those that wish to view the replay.
It is important to be informed. Our SCDN Team Coverage continues to do our best to keep parents educated about these depraved activities that are fairly easily accessible. Due to the nature of the internet, it doesn’t matter what part of the world the crime is being committed. The audience is vast and, sadly, could be someone in your own home.
