3 Under Arrest, Suspected Of Blackmailed Girls For Explicit Images

PATTERSON (CBS13) – An investigation into girls being blackmailed for explicit pictures in Patterson has resulted in three arrests, police say.

Patterson Police Services says, with the help of several other local law enforcement agencies, they've been investigating a case where girls aged 12-17 have been getting coerced into sending explicit images of themselves.

Once they sent a picture, detectives say girls would be blackmailed into sending more elicit images.

After their investigation, Patterson police say a man and woman – Daniel Salazar and Rita Nunez – were arrested for child pornography charges.

Another man, Joaquin Valenzuela, was also arrested as a result of the investigation for an alleged parole violation.

Salazar is facing charges related to child pornography and coercion, while Nunez is facing possession of child pornography and child endangerment.

The Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department's Crime Analysts, the FBI, the Los Banos Police Department, the San Jose Police Department and the California Parole Department all helped in the investigation.