High Point man enters guilty plea for federal sex crime charges
HIGH POINT, N.C. (WGHP) — A man facing numerous sex crime charges at both the federal and state level has entered a guilty plea in federal court.
Joseph Dominick Santora attended a plea hearing on Feb. 4 after pleading guilty to two of the six counts he was indicted for last year.
Santora pleaded guilty to receiving child porn and sexual exploitation of minors.
In exchange for this plea, the remaining six charges — two counts of distribution of child pornography; a separate count of sexual exploitation of minors; possession of child pornography that involved a minor under the age of 12 years of age; coercion of an individual who had not attained the age of 18 years, a minor, to engage in the production of child pornography; and possession of child pornography — were dropped.
For the sexual exploitation charge, he faces a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 40 years in prison. For the charge of receiving child porn, he faces a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years in prison. He could face a fine of up to $250,000 in addition to prison time.
Santora was initially charged with first-degree forcible rape, human trafficking of a child and sexual servitude of a child at the end of April, 2024.
According to High Point police, in February 2024, they responded to a report of a missing juvenile and a sexual assault. The victim, a girl who had been reported missing in another state, told police that she had met a man online and ran away from home to meet him. The man bought her a bus ticket. She said she did not know the man's real name.
Son of accused attempted Trump assassin taken back into federal custody after Greensboro plea hearing in child porn case
It came out in court that the 16-year-old victim was reported missing from Massachusetts and was found at a hotel in the Triad area.
According to warrants, Santora raped the girl. Warrants also allege he held that same juvenile victim in sexual servitude 'with the intent that the other person be held in involuntary or sexual servitude' in January of this year.
He also faces drug charges as a result of the investigation.
. High Point Police Department filed 21 counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, 12 counts of first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and 13 counts of indecent liberties with a minor. According to documents, these have an offense date of January 2023.
Jan 22, 2024: North Carolina SBI received a CyberTip about an Instagram account with the username 'localdilf420' posting 'apparent child pornography.' They identified Santora as the account holder and the tip was forwarded to the High Point Police Department, according to court documents.
Feb 1, 2024: High Point police find the missing girl at an area hotel.
April 29, 2024: Santora initially charged in connection to the teenage girl's assault.
April 30, 2024: Santora hit with drug charges as a result of the search
May 9, 2024: He was charged with obstruction of justice and felony conspiracy, allegedly for attempting to get help destroying evidence connected to the investigation.
May 25, 2024: The High Point Police Department filed 21 counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, 12 counts of first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, and 13 counts of indecent liberties with a minor.
May 29, 2024: HPPD provided the FBI's Charlotte office with the phone and a flash drive containing the contents of the phone, which the FBI manually reviewed before issuing their complaint on May 31.
May 31, 2024: He was federally charged by the FBI.
June, 2024: A grand jury indicted him on various sex crimes
Jan 9, 2025: Santora entered a guilty plea in federal court
Feb. 4, 2025: He appeared in court for his sentencing plea
He is scheduled to appear in court for the state-level charges in March and be sentenced for the federal crimes in April.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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