Man pleads guilty after sexual meetup with agent posing as 14-year-old girl

KANSAS CITY, KAN. - A Missouri man pleaded guilty to crossing state lines to have sex with someone he thought to be a 14-year-old girl.

According to court documents, James D. Fishbaugh, 53, of Blue Springs, Missouri, pleaded guilty to one count of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.

In August 2025, Fishbaugh used a social media account to communicate with an undercover agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) posing as a minor. During the online chat, the agent claimed to be 14 years old, to which Fishbaugh responded that he was 49.

Fishbaugh shifted the conversation to be sexual in nature and told the agent he "would love to meet you sometime". On August 22, 2025, Fishbaugh drove from his residence in Missouri to a designated meeting place in Kansas, stopping for condoms along the way. Agents arrested him upon arrival. Fishbaugh told officers that he believed the undercover agent was a real fourteen-year-old girl and that he traveled to the residence to have sex with the minor.

Fishbaugh is scheduled to be sentenced on November 3, 2026. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Audrey McCormick is prosecuting the case.

Project Safe ChildhoodThis case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

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