An Illinois man who sexually exploited nearly 100 children will be well into his 80s if he's ever released from prison, where he was sent this week for the next 37 years. Shaun Healy, authorities have confirmed, was sentenced on February 12. Healy pleaded guilty last year to child exploitation charges, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's office. U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman's sentence was announced Wednesday, February 19. Prosecutors had alleged Healy, 45, used Snapchat in 2022 to contact and persuade underage girls into creating sexually explicit images and videos of themselves, which he had them send his way. Healy's ruse, according to federal investigators, was to portray himself online as a young girl. He started communicating with his victims over the messaging app and slowly gained their trust, authorities said. New Jersey Police Arrest 12 Child Predators as Part of 'Operation Bad Santa' In time, he persuaded the girls to send him the explicit material they created themselves, federal prosecutors contend. Investigators learned Healy provided graphic, highly detailed instructions to his victims so they would understand what explicit conduct they should engage in, how to record it, and how to later send it to him. Afterwards, Healy would threaten to publish the images and videos online unless his victims created more sexually charged content to send to him. Healy was arrested at his home in Elburn, and federal agents confiscated electronics from his home, including his personal phone. On the phone, they discovered a password-protected album on the phone with dozens of carefully organized folders on children he had contacted through Snapchat, prosecutors said. "Each folder contained the child's Snapchat username, image, and a catalog of the sexually explicit videos and images that he instructed them to produce and send," reads a statement from the Department of Justice. Wisc. Man Paid Philippines Woman to Film Herself Molesting 13-Year-Old Girl "[The d]efendant is a child predator," Assistant U.S. Attorneys Saqib Mohammad Hussain and Elly Moheb said in a sentencing memorandum, quoted in a news release, "and not just a child predator, but one who ruthlessly sexually exploited young girls and prided himself on it. What [the] defendant made these children do will affect them for the rest of their lives in ways that we cannot appreciate." The case was part of Project Safe Childhood, which brings together federal, state, and local resources to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, while also providing critical services to victims. If you believe you are a victim of sexual exploitation, you are encouraged to contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by calling 1-800-843-5678. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you know of a young person who is being exploited or are the victim of a crime, you are urged to report it to your local FBI field office by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI. Tips can also be left at tips.fbi.gov Parents, teachers, and guardians interested in learning more about protecting children from exploitation can find useful tools and information at Know2Protect.