KANSAS CITY, Mo. - An Independence, Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court today for producing child pornography.
Travis Howard White, 26, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to 16 years and three months in federal prison without parole.
White, who pleaded guilty on July 12, 2018, admitted that he used a 13-year-old victim to produce child pornography. White met the child victim on Facebook and they engaged in sexually explicit online chats. During one of those chats, White directed the child victim to produce a pornographic image, which she sent to him.
According to court documents, this was part of an enticement scheme, which soon culminated in the then-14-year-old child victim moving from Kansas to live with White in September 2016.White had sexual contact with the child victim on numerous instances between September 2016 and March 2017, when the child victim was recovered.
According to court documents, the child victim was one of many victims preyed upon by White. By his own admissions, White engaged in “sexting" activity with between 50 to 100 females (including under-aged females). At least a dozen were identified as reported victims.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick D. Daly. It was investigated by the FBI.
Project Safe Childhood
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
