A Ronan man, accused of misrepresenting himself on social media to obtain explicit images of underage girls, was sentenced in District Court in Polson June 18 to 50 years with the Montana State Prison.

Anthony Joseph Spalliero, 47, plead guilty in District Court in Polson March 12 to four counts of sexual abuse of children and one count of intimidation. The pleas entered are part of an agreement that dismisses one count of sexual abuse of children. He was sentenced to a total of 50 years with 20 years suspended.

According to court records, the investigation into Spalliero began Aug. 4, 2024, after the Lake County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by a 17-year-old girl. She reported that Spalliero was threatening her over the phone.

Initially, she did not want law enforcement to respond, but deputies with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office did respond to provide extra patrol near the girl’s home. About 90 minutes later, she called back to report that Spalliero was outside her home and driving a gray SUV.

She informed deputies that she had begun communicating with Spalliero on a social media platform more than a year ago and thought Spalliero was 19 years old. She also indicated that she shared explicit images of herself with him and that he was now threatening to harm her, her family, and pets if she didn’t send more.

About that same time, the deputies on extra patrol in the area of the girl’s home saw a gray SUV matching the description of Spalliero’s SUV. Spalliero texted the girl, “I see you called the cops.”

As the deputies attempted to read the license plate of the gray SUV, it crashed, and Spalliero was transported to a hospital in Missoula with unspecified injuries. The deputies collected the girl’s phone.

Spalliero was released from the hospital a day later and arrested at his residence. A different 17-year-old girl was living with Spalliero at the time and the deputies collected her phone.

Six explicit images of the initial reporting party and 17 explicit images of the girl living at Spalliero’s residence were on one phone. Another phone had about 1,000 images of sexual child-abuse material or SCAM.

Judge Molly Owen gave Spalliero credit for having already served 319 days in jail.