a 30-year-old Minnesota man has been indicted in federal court with more than a dozen counts of child pornography in a sextortion scheme involving more than 60 young girls across the United States and abroad.

Court documents say that Valentin Silva Quintana used social media apps to threaten, manipulate, and exploit the girls, who were primarily between 9 and 12 years of age and living in Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, New Zealand, and elsewhere, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota.  The documents say Quintana was well aware that of the girls’ ages and posed as a minor himself “to make his communications with other victims more believable.”

The documents say Quintana’s most frequent tactic was to convince girls to send him a sexual photo or video, or covertly record them engaging in sexual conduct, and then threaten to send the images to their friends and family unless the girls sent him more images and videos.

“Online predators are using social media apps to befriend, coerce, and ultimately extort children and teens,” said U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger. “Thousands of minor victims have been the target of this horrific exploitation. It’s imperative that we as a community engage with our kids about sextortion schemes so we can prevent them in the first place.”

The federal grand jury charged Quintana with 13 counts of production of child pornography, one count of distribution of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography.

The US Attorney’s Office said that while more than 60 victims have been identified, law enforcement believes there are more. Anyone who believes they may have information about this matter is encouraged to contact Homeland Security Investigations through the toll-free tip line at 1-866-347-2423.

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[Featured image: Valentin Silva Quintana/Winona County Sheriff’s Office]