A man from Putnam County, Indiana, has been sentenced to over 24 years in federal prison for producing child pornography. The sentence was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs for the Eastern District of Texas.
Tristan Kalobbe Martin, aged 29, pleaded guilty to the charge and received a sentence of 293 months from U.S. District Judge Marcia A. Crone on July 21, 2025.
Court documents revealed that in June 2022, Martin began communicating with a minor from Jasper County, Texas, through an online gaming console. Despite being informed by the victim that they were 15 years old, Martin continued the communication. Law enforcement in Jasper contacted authorities in Indiana about the relationship. Indiana law enforcement seized Martin’s cell phone and found nine videos of the minor engaged in sexually explicit behavior.
The case was prosecuted under Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative started by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. The project is led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS). It coordinates federal, state, and local resources to locate and prosecute individuals exploiting children via the Internet while identifying and rescuing victims.
The investigation involved the FBI; Putnam County Sheriff’s Office in Indiana; and the Jasper Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachel Grove prosecuted the case.
