Montana Man to be Sentenced on Child Pornography Charges

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - A Lolo man will be sentenced after pleading guilty Thursday to numerous charges of child pornography.

I spoke with U.S. Attorney for Montana Jesse Laslovich about the case that was heard in Missoula Federal Court.

“An individual from Lolo, Eric Salazar, pled guilty to distributing child pornography and receiving child pornography, both violations of federal law,” began Laslovich. “He'll be sentenced here in the coming months. These are horrible cases where people are ‘sleuthing’. This defendant was sleuthing on the internet, and specifically using Snapchat to contact minor females to have them send him pictures of them.”

U.S. Attorney Laslovich Said a Lolo Man Will Be Imprisoned for Child Pornography

Laslovich expressed his appreciation for the hard work of numerous law enforcement agencies to bring Salazar to justice.

“Due to the work of the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI, we have people who are seeking to hold people like Mr. Salazar accountable,” he said. “They worked collaboratively to make sure that they built the case against him, referred it to us and we are glad that the work has resulted in him pleading guilty to both of those charges today.”

Laslovich defined the internet term ‘sleuthing’.

Laslovich Defined the Internet Term 'Sleuthing'

“Where you have an individual who's using the internet under a pseudonym, under a different name that they don't think can be traced back to them, and then they're contacting people that they are believed to be minor kids to see if they'll engage in sending in this instance, child pornography,” he said.

Laslovich defined the penalties that Salazar would face under federal statute.

READ MORE: Missoula News - Crime Reports

Laslovich Said All Federal Offenders Must Serve Their Full Prison Sentences

“He faces a mandatory minimum of five years in federal prison, up to 20 years, a $250,000 fine, and then upon release of whatever prison sentence he receives, he'll be subject to not less than five years of supervised release, which is probation,” he said.  “I should say to you, and I know I've said this to you in the past, that whatever sentence he receives, that will be the sentence because there's no parole in the federal system.”

According to a press release from the Montana U.S. Attorney’s office; “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.”