Tampa, Florida — A Sheldon native will spend over 15 years in federal prison after a guilty plea to child pornography charges.
U.S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew has sentenced 24-year-old Trevor Mayer of Sheldon — who had been serving as an airman at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida — to 15 years and 8 months in federal prison for producing material depicting the sexual exploitation of children. Mayer was also ordered to serve a 15-year term of supervised release and to register as a sex offender.
Mayer pleaded guilty on December 15, 2020.
According to court documents, Mayer sought out children as young as 13 years old online and asked them to send him sexually explicit images using a popular online messaging application (app) or to engage in sexually explicit conduct and livestream the video to him. At times, Mayer attempted to coerce his victims by threatening to harm them or by bribing them with gift cards. When the victims complied, Mayer then used a separate app to surreptitiously record the sexually explicit images and videos without his victims’ knowledge. Mayer also downloaded images depicting the sexual abuse of children as young as 6 years of age.
