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Valley man, known as 'Daniel Donkey,' sentenced to prison for child sex trafficking

Joel Disanto, a sex offender from Surprise, was recently sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to child sex trafficking in Pinal County.

PINAL COUNTY, Ariz. — A Surprise man was sentenced this week to 25 years in prison for luring a 15-year-old girl over Snapchat and engaging in sexual activity with the minor in Casa Grande. 

Joel DiSanto, 47, was sentenced Monday in Pinal County Superior Court after pleading guilty to child sex trafficking and aggravated luring of a minor, according to the Pinal County Attorney's Office.

DiSanto, a registered sex offender with prior convictions in Illinois and Michigan, was arrested in north Phoenix last December after the Casa Grande Police Department identified him as the Snapchat user who had been exchanging messages with a teenage girl. 

The girl's family had found sexually explicit images and messages on her phone that suggested she had met up with an older man. 

According to PCAO, the girl told investigators she had agreed to meet a man known as "Daniel Donkey" on Snapchat to have sex for money. The victim also disclosed that "she needed the money to help her mom pay their rent."

Police obtained a search warrant to inspect the Snapchat account and gathered evidence to identify the account's creator as DiSanto.

The defendant will be placed on probation for life after completing his prison sentence at the Arizona Department of Corrections.

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