A 20-year-old man was sentenced today to 39 years and eight months in state prison for extorting young girls for nude photos, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced.

Cesar Mauricio Estrada-Davila, aka Cesar Estrada, of Rosemead, pleaded no contest on Feb. 15 to a total of 38 felony counts: one count of lewd act upon a child; 21 counts of distributing or showing child or youth pornography to a minor and 16 counts of possession of child or youth pornography.

As a result of the plea, Estrada also must register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life.

Deputy District Attorneys Scott Yang and Steven Mac of the Antelope Valley Branch prosecuted case MA066758.

According to testimony at the preliminary hearing, Estrada reached out to young girls and befriended them on social media websites between January and April 2015. The defendant told the victims he was a modeling agent who could make them famous online. Estrada then asked the victims to send him pictures of themselves in their underwear, prosecutors said.

Once the defendant received the images, he would tell the girls he was going to send the photos to their friends and family if they did not send nude photos, according to court testimony.

Prosecutors said there were 21 female victims between the ages of 12 and 17 years old from California, Utah, Texas, Michigan, Washington, Colorado, Nevada and Florida.

The case was investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Special Victims Bureau.

Los Angeles County District Attorney case MA066758 / February 17, 2017