A Texas dentist is headed to prison after officials say he tricked minors into sending him sexually explicit videos.

       Abiel Alejandro Saldivar, 33, of San Antonio, pleaded guilty to production of child pornography.

       McClatchy News reached out to Saldivar’s attorney Jan 29 but did not immediately hear back.

       Saldivar sent messages to numerous minors on social media and told them he had nude images of them, according to a news release from the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.

       In December 2020, a 16-year-old girl told investigators Saldivar messaged her when she was 13 years old on a messaging app called Kik, according to court records.

       She said Saldivar told her his name was Joe. He said he had naked pictures of her he would make public if she didn’t send him “sexually explicit images and videos depicting herself engaged in sexual activity”, a criminal complaint said.

       Saldivar sent lingerie to the girl, then ordered her to send him videos of herself wearing it and performing sexual acts, according to the complaint.

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       Between Dec 22, 2020, and Jan 4, 2021, Saldivar threatened to post sexually explicit videos of the girl if she didn’t send videos of herself engaging in sexual activity, according to court documents.

       “The defendant, a local pediatric dentist, was aggressively and ruthlessly sexually exploiting children via social media,” US Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas said in the release.

       Saldivar was sentenced to 30 years in prison and lifetime supervised release and ordered to pay US$45,000 (RM212,760) restitution to victims. – The Charlotte Observer/Tribune News Service