Defendant faces 15-year mandatory minimum sentence
BOSTON – A law enforcement officer from Texas pleaded guilty
today in federal court in Worcester to sexual exploitation of a minor and
cyberstalking charges.
Pasquale T. Salas, 26, a/k/a Gino, a former deputy sheriff
with the Matagorda County Sheriff’s Office, pleaded guilty to one count of
sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of cyberstalking. U.S. District
Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman scheduled sentencing for Sept. 3, 2020.
Salas met the victim through an online video game website in
2014, when the minor was 12 years old. Salas and the girl communicated on a
private chat room and then moved those communications to various other
platforms, including text messaging, Skype and Snapchat. Salas repeatedly
solicited the minor to transmit sexually explicit images and videos of
herself.
Beginning as early as 2016, Salas intimidated the victim
into maintaining contact with him and sending additional sexually explicit
material by threatening that he would send the minor’s sexually explicit images
and videos to her family and her friends. In May 2019, when the victim
attempted to terminate contact with Salas, he repeatedly sent threatening
communications to the victim, using web-based applications to disguise the
source of the communications.
At the time of his arrest, Salas’ smartphone was seized by
investigators and found to contain at least one video, sent via social media,
of the minor performing sexually explicit acts that Salas had coerced her to
perform.
Salas admitted to contacting a second Massachusetts minor
through the same website. From the time she was 12 until the time she was 16,
he coerced her into remaining in contact with him and solicited sexually
explicit images from her. Salas forced her to disclose her social media
credentials so that he could track her activities and view her photographs.
Salas sent pictures of himself inside a police car and with a gun and told the
second victim that he had law enforcement friends in Massachusetts who would
follow her and that no one would believe her if she reported what he had done.
Salas was in contact with her until the time of his arrest.
Members of the public who have questions, concerns, or
information about this case should contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office at
617-748-3274.
The charge of sexual exploitation of a minor provides for
mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and up to 30 in prison, a minimum of
five years and up to life of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
The charge of cyberstalking provides for a sentence of up to five years in
prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S.
Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Joseph R.
Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
Boston Field Division made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was
provided by Police Departments in Worcester County; the United States
Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas; the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, Houston Field Office; the Matagorda (Texas) County Sheriff’s
Office; and the Worcester Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen
Noto from Lelling’s Worcester Branch Office is prosecuting the case.
The case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In
2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide
initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by the
U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section,
Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate,
apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify
and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please
visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov
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