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Pasquale “Gino” Salas, 26, a former deputy with the Matagorda County Sheriff’s Office in Texas, pleaded guilty in May to sexual exploitation of a minor and cyberstalking, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Massachusetts.
On Tuesday, Sept. 14, Salas was sentenced in Worcester district court to 220 months - about 18 years - in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Salas met his victims through the online video game Minecraft in 2014 when they were 12 years old.
With one of the victims, Salas, communicated with her in-game as well as on Snapchat, text, and Skype. Salas convinced the girl to send him sexually explicit images and videos of herself, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Massachusetts, said.
In 2016, Salas began threatening the girl so she would stay in contact with him, according to court documents. Salas said if she broke off contact he would show the explicit photos and videos to her family and friends.
Salas’ subjected a second Worcester County girl to much of the same treatment, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. In addition, he forced her to disclose her social media passwords so that he could track her activities. At one point, Salas sent the girl a photo of himself in a police cruiser with a gun. He said he had friends in Massachusetts law enforcement and no one would believe the girl if she reported him to authorities, according to court documents.
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