A Modesto man was sentenced Monday to 37 years and six months in prison for sexually exploiting minors and receiving child sexual abuse images, federal prosecutors said.

Jacob Jacobsen, 31, will serve 10 years of supervised release after completing his prison sentence, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California said. He also must pay $25,000 in special assessments and forfeit devices used to commit the crimes.

According to court documents, the investigation began after the mother of a 13-year-old girl in Memphis, Tennessee, told law enforcement that someone had been communicating with her daughter through Snapchat.

Investigators identified the person as Jacobsen and executed numerous search warrants. They discovered that he had contacted dozens of underage girls through Snapchat while using the screen names “trippinj” and “treydawgg2000.”

Jacobsen often claimed to be 16 or 17 years old while communicating with the girls and soliciting sexually explicit photographs and videos, prosecutors said. He admitted to investigators that he had obtained sexually explicit images of underage girls for more than five years before his arrest.

“Jacobsen preyed upon some of the most vulnerable members of our society for years. Now, thanks to the quick thinking of a Tennessee mother, and the swift and decisive action of our law enforcement partners and prosecution team, this significant sentence will ensure the public is protected from this child sexual predator for decades to come,” U.S. Attorney Eric Grant said.

The Memphis Police Department and the FBI offices in Memphis and Ripon investigated the case with assistance from the FBI’s Exploited Child Operational Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Gappa prosecuted the case.

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