A Caldwell man possessed hundreds of child porn images. Here’s his prison sentence

A 48-year-old Caldwell man has been sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison for possession of child pornography, U.S. Attorney for Idaho Josh Hurwit announced Thursday.

Senior U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill also sentenced Juan Salinas Jr. to a lifetime of supervised release and entered an order forfeiting the electronic devices used to commit the offense. Salinas was ordered to pay $45,000 restitution to the victims in the images he possessed, and he also will be required to register as a sex offender.

The investigation began when Homeland Security Investigations received a report that child pornography had been uploaded to a social media account that was later identified as belonging to Salinas, according to court records. In March 2022, a federal search warrant was executed at Salinas’ home in Caldwell, and law enforcement seized a cellphone belonging to him. A forensic examination of the phone revealed hundreds of images and videos of child pornography, including files depicting infants and toddlers, according to the news release.

Hurwit commended the cooperative efforts of Homeland Security Investigations, the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children task force, the Caldwell Police Department, and Idaho Department of Corrections Probation and Parole.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The federal case against Salinas was brought as part of a national initiative launched by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2006 called Project Safe Childhood to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.