MISSOULA — A Lolo man who received and distributed child pornography was sentenced on Thursday to 20 years in prison to be followed by lifetime supervised release, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme has announced.
Erik Robert Salazar, 29, pleaded guilty in November 2024 to one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of receipt of child pornography.
Prosecutors alleged in court documents that on September 13, 2023, Missoula County Sheriff's Office Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) detectives received a Cyber Tipline Report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The report originated from Snapchat, which reported to NCMEC that a user, later identified as Salazar, had uploaded two images of child sexual abuse material to their servers on August 19, 2023.
Detectives determined the Snapchat account belonged to Salazar, received the remaining contents of Salazar’s Snapchat account and then reviewed his communications.
"Salazar’s communications were replete with contact with minor females on dates ranging from September 2015 to October 31, 2023. Salazar consistently requested images and videos of those minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Some of the minors sent Salazar images and videos in response to his requests. Additionally, Salazar used Snapchat to send some of these minors images and videos depicting other minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. For example, beginning on August 4, 2023, Salazar began to communicate on Snapchat with a minor female (MV1) who was then 15 years old. In their communications, MV1 informed Salazar of her age, which Salazar indicated sexually excited him. Throughout the communications, Salazar solicited nude images of MV1, which she sent. MV1 also reported that Salazar sent her at least one video of a child engaged in sexually explicit conduct. MV1 reported Salazar told her he wanted to have a baby with her and asked MV1 if she would allow him to perform similar acts on their future daughter." - U.S. Attorney’s Office news release
Salazar was arrested in Missoula for a related offense on October 31, 2023, and was interviewed by detectives. He admitted the Snapchat account involved in the cyber tip belonged to him and that he received images depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct using the account.
U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen presided over the sentencing. The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the FBI and the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office.
