A federal jury found a Casper man guilty of six counts of child pornography.

CASPER, Wyo. (Press Release) – United States Attorney Nicholas Vassallo announced today that Salvador Salas Jr., 32, of Casper, Wyoming, was indicted by a federal jury on one count of possession of child pornography and five counts of felony possession. production of child pornography. The trial is set for three days, January 23-25, 2023, before United States District Court Presiding Judge Scott W. Skavdal continued in Casper. Sentencing is scheduled for April 14, 2023.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Salvador Salas Jr. was a longtime family friend and sought custody of the minor victim, a 13-year-old girl, at his home. While at Salas’ house, the girl’s mother called frequently to check on her condition. Salas said the girl had an allergic reaction to something she ate and he gave her allergy medicine. Salas then sent the girl home in an Uber in the early hours. When the juvenile victim returned home, he showed obvious signs of drug intoxication and appeared to have burns on his lips. Her mother went to a local hospital, where the girl was diagnosed with methamphetamine intoxication. Later it became known that this girl was sexually assaulted. The mother informed the police that the minor victim was in her house with Salas.

The Casper Police Department executed a search warrant at Salas’ home for drugs. Officers recovered methamphetamine, methamphetamine paraphernalia, cocaine, and buprenorphine. While there, officers obtained probable cause that Salas had taken sexually explicit images of the juvenile victim. Officers then executed a second search warrant and seized Salas’ electronic devices. The Wyoming Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) examined the devices and located child pornography downloaded from the Internet on Salas’ laptop and external hard drive. The child pornography that was downloaded showed the sexual abuse of minors. On Salas’ cell phone, members of the ICAC Task Force found additional child pornography, including videos and images of Salas sexually abusing minor victims. In the audio accompanying the footage, Salas can be heard repeating that the victim was 13 years old. In addition to video and photo evidence, the Wyoming Crime Lab recovered semen and Salas’ DNA from the victim’s underwear. During an interview with law enforcement, Salas admitted to having sex with the minor victim and recording it on his cell phone.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation and the Casper Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Christine M. Martens and Stephanie I. Sprecher was chased. The case was handled as part of Project Safe Kids, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. The Safe Kids Project uses federal, state and local resources to better find, apprehend and prosecute those who exploit children online, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information on the Safe Childhood Project, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

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