A Fresno man was sentenced Friday to 55 years in federal prison for making and distributing child pornography.

According to court documents, the activities of 29-year-old Jacob Blanco were uncovered in March 2017 by the parents of a child who was just 6 years old at the time.

The parents discovered that their child had communicated with and created sexually explicit images with someone on the social media application Musical.ly (now TikTok).

Investigators identified Blanco as the culprit.

A search of Blanco’s residence and digital devices showed that he also had convinced multiple minors to produce sexually explicit material. Investigators said that Blanco pretended to be a modeling agent or to be a minor himself.

Blanco Contacted at Least 50 Minors

As part of his plea agreement, Blanco confessed to communicating with at least 50 minors.

“Today’s sentence is warranted due to the seriousness of the defendant’s conduct, the large number of minor victims, and the impact that the defendant’s conduct has had — and will continue to have — on the dozens of children victimized by the defendant,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert in a news release. “The fact that the defendant used social media to sexually exploit the victims serves as a reminder that the internet can be a dangerous place especially for children.”

Homeland Security, the Fresno County Sherriff’s Office, and the Fresno Police Department investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David L. Gappa and Trial Attorney Nadia C. Prinz of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) prosecuted the case.