September 16, 2024 - FRESNO, Calif. — Daniel Vincent Salazar Jr., 28, of Modesto, pleaded guilty today to five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, between December 2018 and January 2020, Salazar used Instagram and Snapchat accounts to contact minor females and coerce them into creating and sending to him images of themselves engaged in sexually explicit conduct. If victims refused to cooperate with Salazar’s demands, he threatened to send explicit images that he had already received to classmates and family members of victims.

Salazar is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 13, 2025, by U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston. Salazar faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison, a maximum of-30 years in prison, and a fine of up to $250,000 and a possible lifetime of supervised release. He will also be ordered to pay restitution to victims. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

This case is the product of an investigation by Patterson Police Services, the Los Banos and San Jose Police Departments, the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation – Division of Adult Parole Operations, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney David L. Gappa is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. Click on the “resources” tab for information about internet-safety education.
Source: DOJ Release