A criminal case against an Indiana woman came to an end when a federal judge handed 36-year-old Annamarie Fleischman a 50-year prison sentence after she pleaded guilty to charges of sexual exploitation of children and receipt of child pornography. Her sentence of confinement also carries a lifetime term of supervision upon release from federal prison. Fleischman entered her guilty plea on April 20.
Fleischman, of Roanoke, Indiana, was arrested and charged with child sex crimes in August 2023 after police received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The private, non-profit NCMEC’s mission is to help find missing children and combat child sexual exploitation. Among other activities, the center runs a cyber tipline that initiated this criminal case.
According to a report by WANE News, after receiving the cyber tip, Investigators with U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) assisted the Indiana State Police in executing a search warrant at a residence on Palace Drive in Roanoke.
As a result of the evidence obtained during the search, 35-year-old Cecil Spangler and 34-year-old Annamarie Fleischman were arrested and transported to the Huntington County Jail. Spangler was charged with two counts of child molesting, and Fleischman was charged with one count of child molesting, child exploitation, and child pornography.
According to an ICE spokesperson, the investigation showed that between April 2023 and August 2023, Fleischman used a child to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of that conduct. Sometime around June 2023, she also received images of a child engaged in sexually explicit activities.
Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Matthew Scarpino commented on the case against Fleischman, saying, “Annamarie Fleischman’s heinous actions deserve every day of her 50-year sentence. HSI will continue to utilize every resource at our disposal to protect children from those who seek to exploit and do them harm.”
Fleischman was prosecuted in the Northern District of Indiana with the assistance of several agencies, including Homeland Security Investigations, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Indiana State Police, the Huntington County Sheriff’s Office, and the Roanoke Police Department.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Before his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.