PLEASE NOTE: The criminal cases against Vincent Sarikey and the alleged crimes described in this article/document are completely unrelated to the Wenke case. I’m currently in the process of setting up a separate website for cases unrelated to Wenke.

In late 2022, federal authorities raided the Herndon, Virginia home of career computer hacker Vincent Sarikey amid an investigation into the suspected possession and production of child sex abuse material or CSAM (commonly known as “child pornography”). The findings resulted in the first of two federal criminal cases against Sarikey, with the second involving allegations of molestation against a minor victim.

The criminal complaint below details the accusations made against Sarikey in the first case (1:23-cr-00056), which was overseen by the United States District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia. Sarikey, who is now 37 years old, agreed to a plea deal and is currently serving a 25-year federal prison term at FCI Butner, a medium-security correctional facility in North Carolina. He’ll be on lifetime supervision following his release in 2044.

Vincent Sarikey and I grew up together and were close friends prior to his arrest. I had no knowledge whatsoever of his crimes, and I would’ve reported him to the authorities immediately if I had even the slightest suspicion that he was exploiting minors. I ended our friendship around two years prior to the FBI raid on his home for reasons unrelated to his crimes, but in hindsight, bits and pieces of previous unexplained and strange behaviour that Sarikey displayed over the years suddenly started to make sense. I’ll talk more about my experience and feelings on the matter in later posts.

Identifying Vincent Sarikey As a Suspect

Vincent Sarikey fell under FBI scrutiny following the federal raid of another accused pedophile, identified in court documents as “N.P.,” in Kansas in July of 2022. While examining evidence collected from the search of N.P.’s home, investigators identified Sarikey as a Telegram user going by the alias of “John Lugne.”

As the document below states, the conversations between N.P. and “John Lugne” detail a mutual interest in underage females. Throughout the course of their interactions, “John Lugne” (Sarikey) sent CSAM to N.P., including three videos featuring a 15-year-old female engaging in sexually explicit behaviour. Sarikey also sent erotic but non-pornographic images of a seemingly younger female along with commentary alluding to an interest in minors even younger than 15.

During a conversation detailed on page 9 of the criminal complaint (section 32), “John Lugne” mentioned that he had a daughter who would be born in a few months. When N.P. asked if he planned to raise her “to be into stuff,” Sarikey replied, “not sure yet” and “I was trying to think of ways to subtley make it happen like it’s her choice.”

Following N.P.’s arrest, an FBI agent assumed his identity online and began chatting with “John Lugne,” who was identified as Vincent Sarikey. During the conversations, Sarikey alluded to receiving CSAM of underage teen girls and reducing the number of victims he received CSAM from due to paranoia. He also mentioned a Twitter account he obtained CSAM from, which led to the identification of a Twitter account linked to Sarikey’s cell phone number and IP address. Further investigation linked Vincent Sarikey to various email addresses that were suspected to be involved with CSAM/child exploitation.

In addition to being identified as a suspect in the investigation stemming from the raid on N.P.’s home, Vincent Sarikey fell under scrutiny due to a tip that Twitter submitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in August 2022 regarding suspected engagement in child exploitation.

The Raid on Vincent Sarikey’s Home

In October of 2022, federal law enforcement obtained a search warrant for the Herndon, Virginia residence of Vincent Sarikey. Agents seized multiple devices, including Sarikey’s cell phone and computer. In the meantime, Sarikey admitted to using “John Lugne” and other aliases/usernames that detectives identified as being associated with CSAM/child exploitation. He voluntarily provided agents with access to his locked cell phone and claimed that he tried infiltrating predator groups in an apparent attempt to bust pedophiles for their crimes.

As a former friend of Sarikey’s (who was unaware of his crimes until after his arrest, by which point our friendship had ended), I can personally confirm that he made this claim. He told me that he spent his free time trying to bust pedophiles, although court documents would later state that he did not report a single suspected criminal or case to law enforcement. Given my knowledge of Sarikey’s advanced hacking skills, I do not believe that this failure to help the authorities stemmed from an inability to obtain and turn over incriminating information.

During a subsequent search of Sarikey’s phone, investigators uncovered over 700 photos and more than 250 videos which were classified as child pornography, including the material “John Lugne” had sent to N.P.. The content featured numerous prepubescent victims, including girls who appeared to be between four and six years old.

On pages 18 and 19 of the criminal complaint, an agent describes finding evidence suggesting that Vincent Sarikey moved CSAM files into a drive that the authorities had been unable to locate, leading to the suspicion that Sarikey maintained an extensive repository of CSAM. The agent also discovered online chats which appeared to show Sarikey attempting (and, in some cases, succeeding) to procure CSAM from minors, including a 15-year-old female from the Miami area. These conversations indicate that Sarikey acted knowingly and with an awareness of the victims’ ages, and that he compensated the victims for the illicit material with gift cards.

Criminal Charges Against Vincent Sarikey

Based on the findings, federal prosecutors charged Vincent Sarikey with the sexual exploitation of minors by producing and attempting to produce pornography. But as later court documents and a second federal criminal case would later show, this was just the tip of the iceberg. Read the criminal complaint below: