WINONA, MN — A Winona man is accused of targeting more than 60 girls as young as 9 in an online “sextortion” scheme, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger.

To do this, the man pretended to be a girl online and manipulated minors into sending him sexual photos or videos, as well as secretly recording them, prosecutors said.

Valentin Silva Quintana, 30, faces 13 counts of production of child pornography, one count of distribution of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography.

Quintana made his initial appearance in U.S. District Court Thursday before Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Cowan Wright. He was ordered to remain in custody ahead of additional court proceedings.

“Online predators are using social media apps to befriend, coerce, and ultimately extort children and teens,” said Luger in a news release.

“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.”

Between April 2022 and June 2023, Quintana used 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, according to authorities.

Quintana knew that most of the girls were between 9 and 12 years of age, investigators said. He pretended to be a girl himself in communications with the girls, prosecutors said.

He used images and videos of young girls to make his communications with other victims more believable, according to investigators.

Quintana convicted young girls that he was their friend or romantic partner, and sometimes offered them money, authorities said.

He also 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, according to prosecutors.

Quintana “continued this type of sextortion even as his victims wept and begged him to stop,” authorities said.

More than 60 minor girls have been identified as victims in the scheme, but law enforcement believes there may be additional victims. Anyone with information on the case is encouraged to contact Homeland Security Investigations at 1-866-347-2423.

“The sexual exploitation of Minnesota’s children is horrific and tragic but never more so than when the offenses also include the physical assault of the young victims,” Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said. “Our Minnesota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force will continue to partner with local law enforcement to root out those who commit these acts and help bring them to justice.”

“Today’s indictment sends a crucial message to all predators – we will not allow any crimes against our most vulnerable population to go unpunished,” said Jamie Holt, special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations-St. Paul. “HSI is dedicated to protecting our children against sexual predators who seek to take advantage of their innocence by working with our federal, state and local partners to bring people like Quintana to justice.”