CONROE – The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office said Travis Jared Whittemore, a 35-year-old commercial pilot, drove four hours to Conroe from the Dallas area to have sex with a child who was under the age of 10.
“There has been an increase in these cases,” Lora Beckman, Assistant District Attorney said.
Beckman said social media apps are like a playground and children are the target.
“This isn’t some dark web application where you’re going to have to be really secretive to get onto it,” she said. “These are readily available to our children.”
Beckman said you never know who’s really behind the screen.
“There’s no typical profile for these offenders,” she said.
According to court documents, last Wednesday Whittemore traveled from the Dallas area to Conroe to have a sexual encounter with a child under the age of 10.
Beckman said he’s an Air Force veteran and works as a pilot for a major airline.
“That’s concerning to us for several reasons,” she said. “We’re aware that he’s gone internationally as a pilot, and outside of this jurisdiction he could have had access to other people.”
When they confiscated his phone she said they found child pornography.
He’s now charged with online solicitation of a minor and two counts of possession of child pornography.
“When we are able to catch these pedophiles before they gain access to our kids, we are doing a great service to the community,” Beckman said.
Whittemore is out on a $90,000 bond. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for the online solicitation of minor charge and 10 years for each possession of child pornography charge. If convicted, he would also have to register as a sex offender.