A 52-year-old San Antonio, Texas man will spend more than 21 years in federal prison for blackmailing an 11-year-old Minnesota girl into sending him explicit images and video, after pressuring her for months over social media. Michael Salas was sentenced to 256 months on Tuesday in St. Paul federal court, following his guilty plea to producing and attempting to produce child pornography.
U.S. District Judge Eric C. Tostrud, who handed down the sentence, called Salas's actions “depraved, cruel, and contemptable,” according to FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul. Tostrud also said the consequences for the victim may be life-long, life-altering, and severe. The sentence exceeds the 15-year mandatory minimum required under federal statute 18 U.S.C. § 2251 for production of child pornography, a law that carries a maximum of 30 years for a first offense, per the U.S. Department of Justice.
How Investigators Traced the Blackmail Back to Texas
The case began in March 2025, when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received an anonymous tip about the blackmail of the girl. Law enforcement then arrested Salas after receiving that tip and tracing the internet account used to blackmail her back to him in San Antonio. Court documents state that on or about March 9, 2025, after Salas pressured the girl over social media, she sent him a video, and he then continued demanding even more explicit material.
The investigation was carried out jointly by the Plymouth Police Department, the New Hope Police Department, and the FBI. U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen said the sentence will hold Salas accountable, but added that no sentence can fully heal the harm done to the girl and her family. FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher D. Dotson said Salas engaged in a months-long campaign to sexually exploit the child, and that child sexual exploitation creates long-lasting trauma and carries long-lasting criminal consequences.
Repeat Offender Status Factored Into Sentencing
Rosen officially characterized Salas as a “repeat and dangerous sex offender” when announcing the sentence. When agents moved in to arrest him, Salas attempted to take his own life, and FBI agents intervened and saved him. Dotson said the FBI will make every effort to seek justice for child victims. Erik Fadden said the sentencing reflected collaboration between local officers and federal partners, while Salas ultimately pleaded guilty on February 11, 2026, ahead of Tuesday's sentencing.
Part of a Broader Federal Crackdown
The prosecution was coordinated under Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to pool federal, state and local resources against online child sexual exploitation. In Minnesota, similar cyber-forensic investigations are handled through the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which coordinates multi-jurisdictional cases between local departments and federal agents, as Hoodline has reported.
Just days before Salas's sentencing, Hoodline reported on another Minnesota case in which a federal court sentenced a Twin Cities man to 260 months in prison under the same Project Safe Childhood framework, following a multi-agency online child exploitation probe.
A National Surge in Sextortion Reports
The Salas case fits into a rapidly worsening national picture. According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the organization received over 50,000 reports of financially motivated online sextortion in 2025, averaging 137 reports every day and marking a sharp rise from more than 36,000 reports the year before. NCMEC's broader CyberTipline processed 20.5 million reports nationwide in 2024 alone, involving nearly 63 million files of suspected child sexual abuse material.
That surge has pushed regulators to expand obligations on tech companies. A May 2025 analysis from Thorn noted that federal implementation of the REPORT Act broadened mandatory reporting requirements for tech platforms, requiring them to forward suspicious online enticement and child sex trafficking activity to NCMEC. Advocates say that pipeline, from platform to national clearinghouse to local and federal investigators, was central to identifying Salas and connecting the blackmail to his account in San Antonio.
