Federal charges filed against High Point trafficking, child pornography suspect faces dozens of charges

HIGH POINT, N.C. (WGHP) — New charges reveal more details in a case against a man accused of possessing and distributing child pornography as well as human trafficking.

Joseph Dominick Santora, of High Point, was initially charged with first-degree forcible rape, human trafficking of a child and sexual servitude of a child after arrest warrants alleged he raped a 16-year-old girl and held her in sexual servitude. He now faces dozens of charges related to multiple victims.

On May 31, federal charges were filed against Santora for possession of child pornography and distribution of child pornography.

The accusations

According to the complaint, the North Carolina SBI received a CyberTip on Jan. 22 regarding an Instagram account with the username “localdilf420” posting “apparent child pornography.” They identified Santora as the account holder and the information was forwarded to the High Point Police Department.

HPPD executed a search warrant on April 26 and Santora was taken into custody and charged. His phone was seized and another phone was also seized. Police searched Santora's phone, which was using encryption apps, and found an album titled “Random Nudes,” which allegedly contained videos of children aged approximately 8 to 16 engaging in various sexual activities.

Through another encrypted app, he was observed to be a member of a group called “Tagged's NL Gooners”, which “appeared to be in the business of pornography”, using the username “Daddy”.

Santora allegedly shared several videos of girls between the ages of approximately 6 and 14 with this group, including one video that appears to show a man raping a small child approximately 6 to 8 years old.

On May 29, HPPD provided the Charlotte FBI office with the phone and a USB drive containing the contents of the phone, which the FBI manually examined before filing its complaint on May 31.

Chronology

On February 1, High Point police responded to a report of a missing juvenile and a sexual assault. The victim, a girl reported missing from another state, told police she met a man online and ran away from home to meet him. The man bought him a bus ticket. She said she did not know the man's real name.

The 16-year-old victim was reported missing from Massachusetts and was found at a hotel.

On April 26, Santora was arrested.

On April 30, he was charged with criminal possession of a Schedule VI controlled substance, possession with intent to sell and distribute marijuana, criminal possession of a Schedule I controlled substance , possession with intent to sell and distribute a Schedule I controlled substance, maintaining a vehicle/dwelling, simple possession of a Schedule II controlled substance and possession of paraphernalia related to the drug.

On May 9, he was charged with obstruction of justice and criminal conspiracy, allegedly for trying to obtain assistance in destroying evidence related to the investigation.

Then he was hit with 40 new charges on May 25. 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 liberties indecent behavior with a minor. According to the documents, these have an offense date of January 2023.

“The 46 counts … indicate that a number of children are in danger not only here in our North Carolina community but also in other states,” the prosecutor's office said. during a May 28 court appearance.

“I think it's definitely a case that stands out… It's a very extreme case, and I think because of the nature of some of these internet crimes, it's very easy for these accusations to get out of hand. accumulate. The Internet makes it very easy to have multiple conversations, multiple connections,” said Hannah Mold with the Guilford County Family Justice Center.