A 29-year-old man from Lolo, Montana, Erik Robert Salazar, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. The sentence, announced by U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme, will be followed by a lifetime of supervised release after he pleaded guilty to charges of receiving and distributing child pornography.
U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen presided over the case. Court documents revealed that on September 13, 2023, a Cyber Tipline Report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) alerted authorities. The report, originating from Snapchat, identified Salazar as having uploaded child sexual abuse material to their platform on August 19, 2023.
Law enforcement used legal methods to confirm that the Snapchat account involved belonged to Salazar. Further investigation of his account unveiled ongoing communication with minors between September 2015 and October 31, 2023. He had consistently requested and, in some cases, received explicit content from these individuals. Among the communications was contact with a minor female, referred to as MV1, who was 15 years old at the time. She reported that Salazar solicited nude images from her and sent back explicit content involving other minors as well.
Salazar was arrested on October 31, 2023, in Missoula, Montana. During the investigation, he admitted to owning the Snapchat account in question and acknowledged receiving and distributing explicit material via the platform.
The case was managed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, with investigative efforts led by the FBI and Missoula County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted under Project Safe Childhood, an initiative started in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to tackle child sexual exploitation on a broader scale. The project focuses on locating offenders, prosecuting such crimes, and rescuing victims. More details about this initiative can be found at Justice.gov/PSC.