MISSOULA – A Lolo man accused of distributing and receiving child pornography admitted to the charges on Thursday, November 7, 2024.

U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich says Erik Robert Salazar, 29, pleaded guilty to distribution and receipt of child pornography.

Salazar faces a mandatory minimum of five to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and no less than five years to life of supervised release for each count.

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) in September 2023.

Prosecutors said the report originated from Snapchat, which informed NCMEC that a user, later identified as Salazar, had uploaded two images of child sexual abuse material to its servers in August 2023.

According to a news release, detectives determined that the Snapchat account belonged to Salazar and received the remaining content of his account.

Authorities also found that Salazar’s communications with other parties on Snapchat were “replete with contacts with underage women” between September 2015 and October 2023.

Prosecutors say Salazar consistently requested images and videos of minors with whom he communicated of those minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Some of the minors sent Salazar said images and videos in response to his requests. Salazar then used Snapchat to send some of these minors images and videos depicting other minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Federal Judge Kathleen L. DeSoto presided over the case and a sentencing date was set for March 13, 2025. Salazar was detained pending further proceedings.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case, which was investigated by the FBI and the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office.