Five Men Guilty in Conspiracy to Distribute Child Sexual Abuse Material

MIAMI – Anthony Wayne Santiago, 28, of Novi, Mich.; Jacob Dominic VanDyke, 25, of Muskegon, Mich.; Johnathan Scott Fleak, 32, of Pryor, Okla.; Aaron Ray Iuliano, 27, of Ravenna, Ohio; and Michael Paul Gianfrancesco, 39, of Livingston, Tenn., all have pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute child sexual abuse material and distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) of children under the age of 13 years.

According to Court records, from September to October 2021, the five defendants entered and participated in a private chat room within a social networking application. Each had to distribute CSAM of children under the age of 13 to enter the chat room. These defendants all distributed and solicited CSAM and discussed the sexual abuse of children among more than 50 other individuals. The children in the images and videos were as young as 4-years-old.

Johnathan Scott Fleak, who also was distributing CSAM through another online message board, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. Anthony Wayne Santiago, a registered sex offender who was on a GPS monitor at the time of his arrest, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison. Aaron Ray Iuliano is to be sentenced February 16, 2023. Michael Paul Gianfrancesco and Jacob Dominic VanDyke will be sentenced March 31, 2023.

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Markenzy Lapointe, acting Special Agent in Charge Michael E. Buckley, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Miami Field Office, and Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw made the announcement.

HSI, West Palm Beach Office, and Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case as part of a joint effort of the South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gregory Schiller and Brian Ralston are prosecuting it.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about the Project Safe Childhood initiative and for information regarding Internet safety, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov  or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 22-cr-80127.