Kane Dane
The former Texas sheriff’s deputy was sentenced Tuesday to more than 18 years in prison for the physical exploitation of young Massachusetts girls after meeting them online
The US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts reported that Pasquale Salas, 20, met the 12-year-old girl through an online game in 2014. Salas and the girl communicated via online chat and then communicated via text message. and other platforms – where Salas persecuted minors for openly honest photos and videos.
Federal prosecutors said in 2016 that Salas “intimidated” the victim by getting him to contact him and send him physically explicit material. He did so by threatening to send incriminating photos and videos of the girl to her family and friends.
Following Salas’s arrest in July 2019, his phone was searched and a video posted on social media was found in which the victim engages in physically explicit acts in which Salas coerced her.
The officers confessed his crime
Salas was the deputy sheriff in the Matagorda County Sheriff’s Office at the time of the crimes. Federal authorities said Salas eventually confessed to the physical exploitation of a second 12-year-old from Massachusetts.
Salas threatened the girls to contact him
Salas forced the girl to communicate with him and requested illegal images and videos. Salas also forced the girl to give him her social media credentials so that he could monitor her online activities and view her photos.
Reportedly they met both 12-year-old victims while playing Minecraft online. Salas remained in contact with the second victim until his arrest.
Salas sent love cards and gifts to the two victims. According to reports, one of the girls received the edible composition and decorations from an anonymous sender.
Salas established rules and sanctions for one of the victims. Salas also requested that one of the girls answer his calls several times a day at any time. The sources reported that 1,700 calls were made between 2018 and 2019; Plus, there were 800 consecutive days on Snapchat in between.
Charges for the crime
Salas, 26, pleaded guilty to the physical exploitation of a minor and cyberbullying. In addition to his imprisonment, he was ordered to serve five years of probation and to receive treatment for physical offenders.
