A Springfield man was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison Oct. 3, after he pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child.
Jeffery Scott Saltkill, 36, admitted exchanging sexually explicit text messages with an 11-year-old female victim in Minnesota in early 2021.
According to federal court documents, the victim’s mother discovered the messages, including nude images exchanged between Saltkill and the victim, and contacted law enforcement agents. The mother put the phone in airplane mode and shipped it overnight to the St. Louis Division of the FBI, where FBI agents analyzed the data on the phone.
Saltkill pretended to be two different teenage boys and used two different cell phones to communicate with the girl.
Among the messages, the victim asked Saltkill how he got her contact information. Saltkill replied that he got her phone number from Omegle, a website in which users are randomly connected with other video chat users around the world.
On Jan. 8, 2021, the victim messaged to Saltkill, “Is 12 to young for u (sic).” Saltkill responded, “No it’s not” and continued the sexually explicit conversation. In one text string, Saltkill tells the victim he would like to visit her in Minnesota. He also tells her he wants to bring three friends who would also have sex with her.
She responded, “But u do know that I am still with my parents right.”
Saltkill replied, “Yeah I know u cld sneak out.”
The victim then gave Saltkill the name of her town and name of the middle school she attended.
Beginning on Jan. 14, 2021, an FBI agent pretended to be the victim and continued the text conversation with Saltkill.
FBI picks up the conversation
According to the documents, Saltkill — believing he was still communicating with the 11-year-old girl — texted that he was in the victim’s hometown. The FBI agent replied that there had been a family emergency and that she and her mother were not in that town.
Throughout those conversations, Saltkill encouraged the girl to view pornography and to masturbate. He sent links to videos of adult pornography. At least once, he told the victim to engage in acts of bestiality and encouraged her to perform a sex act on a dog.
According to the documents and information presented in court Tuesday, Saltkill told investigators he was addicted to communicating with children and obtaining sexual images after he was caught. He admitted to having sexual communications with four or five additional minors within the last two years. Saltkill told agents he has been single and lonely since he turned 30, and that he can’t find an adult woman he is interested in dating.
Saltkill told the investigator he has sexual communications with minors online and by text messages out of loneliness and desperation.
Prosecutor dismisses ‘excuses’
At the sentencing hearing in Judge M. Douglas Harpool’s Springfield courtroom, federal prosecutor Stephanie Wan spoke about the aggravating factors including the age of the victim, and how Saltkill sought her out and manipulated her by pretending to be teen boys.
Saltkill pressured the victim to “engage in humiliating acts,” Wan said, including having sex with an animal, having group sex and to record video footage of herself masturbating.
“The defendant tries to claim this was fantasy, which is insulting, because these are real children,” Wan said. “He is clearly a danger. We have multiple victims.”
Wan spoke about how Saltkill manipulated the 11-year-old victim by tricking her into thinking she was communicating with two different teen boys, and that he pressured her to do things even when she expressed apprehension.
Wan called Saltkill’s claims of being lonely and depressed “excuses.”
“They are designed to make us feel sorry for him,” Wan said. “He sought out children because they are vulnerable.”
Defense points to difficult childhood, loneliness
In the defendant’s sentencing memorandum, Saltkill’s attorney Megan Chalifoux wrote in part:
“Mr. Saltkill’s communications were inappropriate; however they were fantasy where the individuals communicated over phone from different states, never seeing or touching one another. …”
In court, Chalifoux spoke about Saltkill’s childhood and told the court that his father was verbally abusive. She described her client as depressed and lonely.
“Is that the right way to deal with loneliness? Of course not,” she said.
Chalifoux said depression and loneliness are the reasons Saltkill committed the crime — not because he is attracted to children.
Saltkill declined to speak at the hearing.
Judge: ‘Those who prey on the most vulnerable are the most criminal’
According to sentencing guidelines, sexual exploitation of a child carries a sentence of 15 to 30 years in prison.
In deciding the sentence of 20 years, Harpool said he considered the victim’s age to be a “grave concern.”
The judge also took issue with how Saltkill manipulated the young victim by creating two profiles and pretending to be teenage boys.
“No 11-year-old child should have to worry about an adult manipulating them,” Harpool said.
Harpool said Saltkill pressured the victim to do things no 11- or 12-year-old child should ever be asked to do. Harpool spoke about how girls that age are “particularly vulnerable” because of all the changes they are going through and are still learning about their bodies.
“Those who prey on the most vulnerable are the most criminal,” Harpool said to Saltkill. “Don’t think in three or five years this won’t be part of her life.
“She will live with it. She will struggle with it,” the judge continued. “She will always worry she is being manipulated.”
Harpool also didn’t buy the defense attorney’s claims that Saltkill’s bad behavior stems from an abusive father, loneliness and depression.
“I’m not sure what you got out of this,” Harpool said. “It’s not like she was fixing your loneliness. It wasn’t like this was going to be a long term relationship.
“Frankly, it looks a lot like flat, mean manipulation,” Harpool continued, “and sexual gratification.”
Harpool said he will recommend Saltkill be placed in a sex offender treatment program while in prison.
As Harpool adjourned the hearing and stood up from the bench, he offered Saltkill one more bit of advice:
“Sir, I don’t know what led you down this path, but let’s get on a new one.”
