Lolo man admits distributing, receiving child pornography

MISSOULA - A Lolo man accused of distributing and receiving child pornography admitted to charges today, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

The defendant, Erik Robert Salazar, 29, pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography and receipt of child pornography. Salazar faces a mandatory minimum of five years to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and not less than five years to life of supervised release on each charge.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen L. DeSoto presided. A sentencing before U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen was set for March 13, 2025. The court will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Salazar was detained pending further proceedings.

The government alleged that in September 2023, the Missoula County Sheriff's Office Internet Crimes Against Children 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 on their servers in August 2023. Detectives determined that the Snapchat account belonged to Salazar and received the remaining content of his account. Detectives found that Salazar's communications with other parties on Snapchat were replete with contact with minor females from between September 2015 and October 2023. Salazar consistently requested images and videos from minors with whom he was communicating of those minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Some of these minors sent Salazar such images and videos in response to his requests. Salazar used Snapchat to send some of these minors images and videos depicting other minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

The U.S. Attorney's Office is prosecuting the case. The FBI and Missoula County Sheriff's Office conducted the investigation.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit Justice.gov/PSC.

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