Vincenzo Leonardi Pleads Guilty to Producing Child Pornography

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Vincenzo Leonardi, 27, of Lakewood, Ohio, pleaded guilty today to production of child pornography, admitting he spent years posing as a teenage girl to manipulate and exploit young boys across the country. The crime unfolded in the hidden corners of social media, where Leonardi built a digital facade to lure victims as young as 9 into sending sexually explicit images and videos of themselves.

According to court documents filed with his plea agreement, Leonardi created a false identity — ‘Taylor Capps’ — and used Facebook, Instagram, Kik, and other platforms to contact underage boys. From May 2012 to February 2016, he sent victims pictures of naked females, including images of minors, to gain trust and escalate conversations into sexual territory. His victims, scattered across the U.S., believed they were chatting with a peer — not a predator three times their age.

One victim, located in Loudoun County, Virginia, was just 9 years old when Leonardi first contacted him. For that child and at least five others, Leonardi succeeded in coercing them into recording sexually explicit acts and transmitting the material directly to him. He admitted to attempting the same manipulation with at least a dozen more boys, all between the ages of 9 and 12, using deception and emotional grooming as his tools.

When federal agents executed a search warrant in December 2015, they seized Leonardi’s laptop — a digital vault of exploitation. Forensic analysis revealed over two dozen sexually explicit videos and more than 100 images of minors engaged in sexual conduct. These files, collected over years of calculated online predation, formed a key part of the evidence leading to his indictment.

Leonardi was indicted by a federal grand jury on November 3, 2016, and now faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison, with a maximum penalty of 30 years. Sentencing is scheduled for May 12 before U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema. While Congress sets statutory penalties, the final sentence will be determined by the court, weighing the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other legal factors.

The case was announced by Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Andrew W. Vale, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; and Michael L. Chapman, Loudoun County Sheriff. Prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maya D. Song and Jay V. Prabhu. Critical investigative support was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Northern District of Ohio and the District of Maryland. Court records are available under Case No. 1:16-cr-247 via the Eastern District of Virginia’s public docket or PACER.