Former serviceman sentenced to 15.5 years in prison for sexually exploiting Maryland child

BALTIMORE (WBFF) — A former U.S. serviceman was sentenced to over 15 years in federal prison for sexually exploiting a child in Maryland, federal prosecutors said Monday.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Maddox sentenced Daniel Lara-Salazar, 33, to 15 1/2 years in prison followed by lifetime supervised release after he pleaded guilty to sexually exploiting a child.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, Lara-Salazar was stationed in Puyallup, Washington, while serving in the military when he coerced a minor girl in Maryland into producing sexually explicit images and videos.

ALSO READ | Maryland Dept. of Health declares measles outbreak in three counties as cases rise to 31

Prosecutors said Lara-Salazar contacted the victim through Snapchat in June 2024 and demanded that she send him sexually explicit images and videos.

Some of the images were not available when investigators reviewed the Snapchat account because the platform includes a feature that causes images to disappear after they are viewed, according to prosecutors.

Investigators later found that Lara-Salazar had also communicated with three other minor girls living in Texas and elsewhere through Snapchat, federal officials said.

Prosecutors said he similarly coerced and enticed those victims to send sexually explicit images.