A Watsonville man was sentenced to 25 years and 8 months in state prison for human trafficking, sexual assault and drug crimes, Santa Cruz County District Attorney, Jeffrey Rosell announced Monday.
Luis Alberto Salas pleaded no contest on Aug. 29 to multiple counts of human trafficking involving minors, and admitted additional related charges before a Santa Cruz Superior Court judge.
The conviction stems from a multi-agency investigation into Salas’ use of the social media platform Snapchat to contact and exploit minors throughout Santa Cruz County between 2023 and 2024.
The investigation, led by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office with assistance from local law-enforcement partners, found that Salas reached out to minors online through Snapchat offering drugs in exchange for sex. Salas used multiple Snapchat handles to facilitate the crimes and arrange meetings with multiple minors where drugs were exchanged for lewd acts.
Investigators identified victims across the county, and school districts warned families as the case developed.
“This result belongs to the survivors who spoke up and to the investigators who did the hard work to corroborate them,” said Assistant District Attorney Jason Gill, who prosecuted the case. “Human traffickers exploit vulnerabilities and use social media to avoid detection and commit these heinous crimes against the youth of our community. This conviction makes it clear: if you target our children in Santa Cruz County, you will be found, you will be charged, and you will be held accountable.”
Rosell said that “Protecting our youth is a top priority.”
“This plea reaffirms our office’s dedication to dismantling human-trafficking networks both online and within our communities, while supporting survivors at every stage,” he said. “We extend our gratitude to our law-enforcement and education partners for acting swiftly to keep families informed and safe.”
