A Wyoming man was sentenced Thursday to 170 years in prison on child pornography charges, according to a release from the U.S. Justice Department.
In January, a jury found 32-year-old Salvador Salas Jr. guilty of filming sex acts between himself and a 13-year-old girl. The Casper Police Department investigated the case, and it was ultimately transferred and tried in federal court before Chief U.S. District Court Judge Scott W. Skavdahl in Casper.
The court ordered $132,056 in restitution to cover the expenses for the victim’s care, the Justice Department release said.
“Salas, a graphic artist clothing designer and DJ, had offered to mentor the child, teaching her clothing and shoe design,” the release said. “However, the minor victim arrived home in the early morning hours of February 28, 2021, exhibiting signs of illicit substance intoxication, behaving strangely, and shaking.”
The girl also had blisters on her lip. She was taken to the ER, where she was treated for methamphetamine ingestion.
The girl told police in an interview the next day that she had smoked methamphetamine with Salas at his apartment, but didn’t remember anything after falling asleep on his couch, the CPD report said.
On March 2, CPD officers with the Problem Oriented Response Team executed a warrant at Salas’s residence and found about an ounce each of heroin and methamphetamine, as well as MDMA, the report said.
A woman who was present told police she had done drugs with Salas the night before and he had photographs of her and other women, according to a ruling in the federal case.
With this information and the discovery of recording equipment and electronics at the apartment, police applied on scene for a second warrant, stating probable cause existed to look for child pornography on items including a hard drive and a laptop.
“On his devices, the Wyoming Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force found child pornography that had been downloaded from the internet, which featured the graphic sexual abuse of prepubescent children, and five videos and 47 photographs of the minor victim,” the release said.
“The images of the minor victim depict Salas sexually abusing her. In the audio that accompanies the videos, Salas can be heard talking to the minor victim and remarking that she is just 13 years old. The videos and photographs were taken in Salas’s home,” the release said.
“The evidence in this case demonstrated that Salas is a sexual predator—someone who manipulated people that trusted him,” said United States Attorney Nicholas Vassallo in the release. “He used his relationship with the minor victim’s mother to gain access to the child. Once he had that access, he supplied the child with drugs, making her even more vulnerable to his sexual abuse.”
“This kind of trauma devastates the victims, the families, and the communities in which it occurs,” Vassallo added. “The long sentence imposed by Judge Skavdahl is just punishment for Salas. Hopefully, it also can be the first step towards healing the victim.”
The case was also investigated by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI.
“While this man will no longer be able to harm children, we know his victim will continue to need support,” said FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Mark Michalek. “The significant sentence and restitution in this case recognizes the lasting impact on the survivor of this horrific crime and provides for appropriate care and treatment.”
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