Former Vermont Nurse Pleads Guilty to Commissioning Torture Videos

A former Vermont nurse has pleaded guilty to commissioning torture videos from a woman in Venezuela, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday.

Burlington resident Sean Fiore, 37, pleaded guilty Thursday to murder for hire, conspiracy to kidnap and murder a person overseas, conspiracy to produce child pornography, and possession of child pornography. He is scheduled for sentencing on March 1.

Fiore admitted to commissioning videos from co-defendant Moraima Escarlet Vasquez Flores in Venezuela two separate times in 2018.

Using WhatsApp to communicate, the pair used aliases to discuss "Fiore's interest in purchasing a video from Vasquez Flores depicting the kidnapping and torture of a 'slave,' " the DOJ said in a statement. Fiore went by "Marcus," while Vasquez Flores went by "Johana."

They agreed that Vasquez Flores would make the video, using a child, in exchange for $600 in Amazon gift cards. Vasquez Flores sent Fiore a link to a video file on Oct. 3, 2018, that depicted "sadistic abuse of a prepubescent boy consistent with Fiore's specifications."

"In the video, Vasquez Flores inflicted pain on the child for the sexual arousal of the viewer of the video," the DOJ said.

Fiore and Vasquez Flores then agreed that she would make another video that would show the "torturing and killing a 'slave' she would kidnap in her home country of Venezuela," this time in exchange for $4,000.

Vasquez Flores said that she planned on kidnapping a "slave by enticing a man to leave with her from a party with the promise of sex." Fiore also sent her "specifications for the types of physical abuse, humiliation, and manner of death" he wanted to see depicted.

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In April 2019, Vasquez Flores sent Fiore a link to a 58-minute video "depicting the requested sadistic abuse and possible death of an adult male."

Vasquez Flores was arrested in Colombia in September 2020, and is awaiting extradition to the United States, where she 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.

At his sentencing next March, Fiore faces up to 20 years of imprisonment for murder for hire; up to 10 years of imprisonment for possession of child pornography; up to lifetime imprisonment for conspiring to kidnap or murder a person in a foreign country; and up to 30 years of imprisonment with a mandatory minimum term of 15 years for conspiracy to produce child pornography.