A Mexican national residing in Winona, Minn., has been sentenced to 324 months in prison followed by 20 years of supervised release in an online sextortion scheme that victimized more than 60 minor girls across the country and abroad, following a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations St. Paul probe.
Court documents say that between April 2022 and June 2023, Valentin Silva Quintana, 31, used social media apps, including Snapchat and Instagram, to threaten, sexually manipulate, and exploit more than 60 young girls primarily between 9 and 12 years old in Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, New Zealand and elsewhere. Quintana, who knew that most of the girls were between 9 and 12 years of age, used fake identities and lied about his age in communications with the girls, often posing as a minor girl himself. He used images and videos of youthful-appearing girls to make his communications with other victims more believable.
According to court documents, Quintana used a wide range of tactics to coerce his victims, sometimes by convincing young girls that he was their friend or romantic partner, or by offering them money. He convinced young girls to send him a sexual photo or video or covertly recorded them engaging in sexually explicit conduct, and then threatened to send the first image to their friends and family unless the girls produced ever more graphic sexual images and videos for him.
ICE released information earlier this month stating that sextortion is more common than people realize, with cases increasing “exponentially” in the last two years. Authorities have also seen an increase in financially motivated sextortion cases, where perpetrators demand money or gift cards in exchange for keeping their sexual images private. The FBI reports that victims of financial sextortion are typically males between the ages of 14 to 17, but that any child can become a victim.
“We remain committed to holding perpetrators of online child exploitation accountable,” said ICE HSI St. Paul Special Agent in Charge Jamie Holt. “This conviction sends a strong message that individuals who engage in the production, distribution, or possession of child exploitation material will face the full weight of the law. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of our agents and our collaboration with law enforcement partners, we continue to make great strides in safeguarding children and bringing predators to justice.”
Quintana was sentenced on Feb. 5, 2025, in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota before Judge Jerry W. Blackwell after previously pleading guilty to one count of production of child pornography, one count of distribution of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography.
Quintana remains in federal custody.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by ICE HSI, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and the Winona County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael McBride prosecuted the case.
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Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
