Charges: Winona man’s online sextortion scheme victimized dozens of girls in U.S., overseas

A Winona, Minn., man has been charged with using social media apps to sexually extort dozens of primarily preteen girls across the country and abroad.

Valentin Silva Quintana, 30, was charged Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis with 13 counts of production of child pornography, and one count each of distribution of child pornography and possession of child pornography.

“Online predators are using social media apps to befriend, coerce, and ultimately extort children and teens,” U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger said in a statement announcing the charges. “It’s imperative that we as a community engage with our kids about sextortion schemes so we can prevent them in the first place.”

Quintana made his initial appearance in court Thursday and was ordered to remain jailed ahead of another hearing next week. Quintana’s attorney, Lee Johnson, said Friday it was too soon in the legal process to comment about the allegations.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said law enforcement believes there may be others who were victimized by Quintana. Anyone with information about this case is encouraged to contact federal the tip line for Homeland Security Investigations at 1-866-347-2423.

Some of the same allegations led to him being charged in Winona County District Court in July with similar felony counts.

According to court documents:

Between April 2022 and June 2023, Quintana used social media apps including Snapchat and Instagram to threaten, sexually manipulate and exploit more than 60 girls primarily between 9 and 12 years old in Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, New Zealand and elsewhere.

He knew that most of the girls were between ages 9 and 12. He used fake identities — many with feminine first names — and lied about his age to the girls. He used images and videos to pose as a girl in order to make more believable his communications with his victims.

Quintana sometimes convinced girls that he was their friend or romantic partner, or he offered them money.

But most frequently, he persuaded 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.

“He continued this type of sextortion even as his victims wept and begged him to stop,” a U.S. Attorney’s Office statement read.

“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,” read a statement from Drew Evans, superintendent of the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, whose agency assisted federal investigators and the Winona County Sheriff’s Office.