A Ronan man accused of using social media to obtain explicit images of underage girls was sentenced in District Court in Polson last month to 50 years in the Montana State Prison.

Anthony Joseph Spalliero, 47, pleaded guilty earlier this year to four counts of sexual abuse of children and one count of intimidation. The pleas entered are part of an agreement that saw one count of sexual abuse of children dismissed by the court. He was sentenced to a total of 50 years behind bars 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 provided extra patrols 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 her 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 vehicle. Spalliero allegedly texted the girl, “I see you called the cops.”

As the deputies attempted to read the license plate of the gray SUV, it crashed. 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 allegedly were on one phone. Another phone allegedly had about 1,000 images of sexual child-abuse material.

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