A federal judge ordered an Arcadia, Florida man to spend the next three decades behind bars for producing child sexual abuse material involving children as young as eight years old.
Vincent Anthony Principe, 55, received the 30-year prison sentence on Thursday, which will be followed by a lifetime of supervised release. The sentencing follows Principe’s April 30 guilty plea to charges stemming from a multi-year international exploitation scheme.
According to federal court documents, Principe traveled to the Philippines multiple times over a period of several years. While abroad, he sexually abused four minors, filmed the encounters, and subsequently published the video recordings on a website dedicated to child exploitation. Investigators also discovered that Principe possessed more than 100 images of child sexual abuse material, including depictions of pre-pubescent children.
“The defendant’s vile acts not only caused serious harm through his sexual abuse of multiple minors, but he also inflicted added layers to that harm by memorializing the abuse and distributing it to other offenders,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
Duva added that the department remains committed to holding citizens accountable for harming children, regardless of whether the crimes occur domestically or internationally.
The investigation required extensive coordination between domestic and international law enforcement agencies. The U.S. Secret Service led the probe, receiving operational support from Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, the Queensland Police Service in Australia, and Europol.
“The vile actions of this child predator who exploited children while traveling internationally is reprehensible,” said U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe for the Middle District of Florida. “Working closely with our law enforcement partners, we remain committed to investigating and prosecuting those who prey on children.”
Andrew Forrest, the Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Secret Service’s Criminal Investigative Division, noted that the severity of the sentence reflects the nature of the offenses. “This sentence reflects the seriousness of the defendant’s crimes and underscores our dedication to working with U.S. and international partners to ensure offenders are brought to justice, no matter where their crimes occur,” Forrest said.
The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney McKenzie Hightower of the Justice Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section alongside Assistant U.S. Attorney Yolande Viacava for the Middle District of Florida.
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