Gibraltar Man Sentenced to 17 Years for Sexual Exploitation of Children

DETROIT – A Gibraltar man was sentenced to 17 years in federal prison for sexual exploitation of children, announced United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison.

Ison was joined in the announcement by James A. Tarasca, Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Travis Timmons, 33, of Gibraltar, Michigan, was sentenced by United States District Judge Judith E. Levy. Timmons pleaded guilty to using his cellular phone to create a video of himself performing a sex act on a child who was less than ten years old. In addition, he also pretended to be a younger male online, engaging in inappropriate conversations with minor females and offering them vape pens in exchange for sexually explicit images and sex acts. When law enforcement attempted to arrest Timmons, he jumped out of his window and fled.

“This offender engaged in hands-on abuse to create sexually explicit images of a young child. This sentence holds him accountable for this serious offense. Our commitment to vigorously work to keep children in our community safe is unwavering.” U.S. Attorney Ison stated.

“We must protect the most vulnerable members of our community – our children – from sexual exploitation,” said James A. Tarasca, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office. “I would like to thank the Gibraltar Police Department for their partnership during this investigation. No amount of prison or restitution can make these victims whole but lengthy prison sentences, like the one in this case, send a strong message to these offenders that the FBI and our law enforcement partners will use all our available resources to bring them to justice.”

This case was investigated by the Southeast Michigan Trafficking and Exploitation Crimes Task Force of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Gibraltar Police Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Rawsthorne.