Sheppard Air Force Base Airman Sentenced to Life in Federal Prison for Traveling to Colorado to Kidnap and Sexually Abuse a Child

A Sheppard Air Force Base Airman who traveled to Colorado to kidnap and sexually abuse a child was sentenced to life in federal prison, announced United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Ryan Raybould.

Travis Robert Larson, 24, of Denton, Texas, was indicted in August 2025. He pled guilty in November 2025 to one count of enticement of a minor and one count of sexual abuse of a minor, and was sentenced on February 27, 2026, by Chief United States District Judge Reed O'Connor.

According to court documents, on May 4, 2025, a father notified the Colorado Springs, Colorado Police Department that his 14-year-old daughter was missing. The father told authorities that he had located the child's phone and found messages indicating that Larson had been communicating with the child and had discussed driving to Colorado to pick up the child and bring her back to Texas.

Law enforcement officers located surveillance footage of Larson picking up the child, identified in court documents as "Minor Victim 1," and tracked his vehicle traveling from Texas to Colorado Springs and back during the late evening hours of May 3 to May 4, 2025.

Court records reflect that Larson was an active member of the United States Air Force and was stationed at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas. On the evening of May 5, 2025, the USAF Security Forces Squadron recovered the child near Larson's dorm room on SAFB. The child disclosed that Larson began communicating with her online when she was just 10 or 11 years old, and that she would send Larson sexually explicit images of herself at Larson's request. The child disclosed that her online relationship with Larson lasted several years until Larson eventually discussed coming to visit her in person.

According to court documents, the child disclosed that Larson had traveled twice to Colorado Springs to meet her for sex, including picking her up from her home in late April 2025 and driving to a nearby park, where he sexually abused her. Later, on May 3, 2025, Larson again traveled from Texas to Colorado to have sex with the child. Text messages between Larson and the child indicate that Larson promised to bring the child alcohol and described his desire to have sex with the child and to resort to violence, if necessary.

Court documents further reflect that around 3:30 a.m. on May 4, 2025, Larson picked up the child from her Colorado Springs residence and drove to a nearby park, where he had sex with the child. Instead of driving the child back to her residence, Larson then drove the child, against her will, back to Texas. On the morning of May 4, 2025, Larson and the child were captured on surveillance footage at the Buc-ee's gas station in Amarillo, Texas. Later that day, Larson hid the child in the trunk of his vehicle in order to sneak her onto SAFB and conceal her in his dormitory room. Larson sexually abused the child multiple times inside his dormitory before she was recovered by law enforcement. A search of Larson's phone revealed notes with the child's name, date of birth, and social media accounts, indicating that Larson was aware the child was just 14 years old.

The Colorado Springs Police Department, Air Force Office of Special Investigations, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Dallas Field Office - Wichita Falls Resident Agency investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Allyson Monte and Stephen Rancourt prosecuted the case.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney's Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."