A child-predator case brought by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) against an Indiana couple concluded with sentences totaling more than 100 years for the pair arrested and charged with crimes against children. In the latest sentence in the case, a federal judge handed 35-year-old Cecil Spangler of Roanoke, Indiana, a 60-year sentence in federal prison. Spangler’s partner, Anna Fleishman, was sentenced to 50 years as part of the same case in May.
Spangler and Fleischman, of Roanoke, were 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 court documents, between June 2021 and August 2023, Spangler used a child to engage in sexual conduct and produced a visual depiction of that conduct. As reported by Breitbart Texas, 36-year-old Annamarie Fleischman, Spangler’s partner, pleaded guilty to charges of sexual exploitation of children and receipt of child pornography. Like Spangler, her sentence of confinement also carries a lifetime term of supervision upon release from federal prison. Fleischman entered her guilty plea on April 20.
According to a report by WANE News, after receiving a cyber tip, Investigators with ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) assisted the Indiana State Police in executing a search warrant 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.
United States Attorney Adam Mildred commented on the sentencing of Spangler for crimes against children, saying, “A predator who used a minor to engage in sexual conduct and produced a visual depiction of that sexual conduct will spend the next 60 years in prison for his sick and depraved decisions. ”
Spangler and Fleischman were prosecuted in the U.S. District Court for 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.
Read the full article here
