A member of the United States Air Force stationed at Sheppard Air Force Base has been sentenced to life in federal prison after pleading guilty to charges related to the kidnapping and sexual abuse of a minor. The announcement was made by United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Ryan Raybould.
Travis Robert Larson, 24, from Denton, Texas, was indicted in August 2025. He pleaded guilty in November 2025 to one count of enticement of a minor and one count of sexual abuse of a minor. Chief United States District Judge Reed O’Connor delivered the sentence on February 27, 2026.
According to court documents, on May 4, 2025, the father of a 14-year-old girl reported her missing to police in Colorado Springs. He had discovered messages on her phone indicating that Larson had communicated with his daughter about picking her up and bringing her back to Texas.
Investigators reviewed surveillance footage showing Larson picking up the child—identified as “Minor Victim 1” in court records—and tracked his vehicle traveling between Texas and Colorado Springs during the night of May 3 into May 4, 2025.
Records show that Larson was serving at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas at the time. On May 5, 2025, Security Forces from the base located the child near Larson’s dormitory room. The child told authorities that she began communicating with Larson online when she was around ten or eleven years old and sent him sexually explicit images at his request over several years. Their online relationship continued until Larson discussed meeting her in person.
The child stated that Larson traveled twice to Colorado Springs for sexual encounters with her. In late April 2025, he picked her up from home and took her to a park where he sexually abused her. On May 3, he again drove from Texas to Colorado for sex with the minor. Text messages between them showed that Larson promised alcohol and expressed intentions involving sex and possible violence.
Further details indicate that around 3:30 a.m. on May 4, Larson picked up the girl from her residence and drove to a park where he had sex with her before taking her against her will back to Texas. Surveillance cameras later recorded them at a gas station in Amarillo. Later that day, Larson hid the child in his car trunk while entering Sheppard Air Force Base and concealed her in his dormitory room where further abuse occurred before law enforcement intervened. A search of his phone found notes containing personal information about the victim confirming he knew she was only fourteen.
The investigation involved multiple agencies including the Colorado Springs Police Department, Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Texas Department of Public Safety, and FBI’s Dallas Field Office – Wichita Falls Resident Agency. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Allyson Monte and Stephen Rancourt prosecuted the case.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood—a national initiative started by the Department of Justice in May 2006—to address child sexual exploitation by coordinating efforts among federal, state, and local agencies for both prosecution and victim recovery efforts (http://www.justice.gov/psc). Additional resources on internet safety education are available through Project Safe Childhood’s website under “resources.”
