WICHITA FALLS, Texas - A man in the U.S. Air Force has been sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping a 14-year-old girl from Colorado, sneaking her into his military dormitory in Texas, and sexually abusing her numerous times.
Texas airman gets life in prison
Travis Robert Larson, 24, was arrested in May 2025 and indicted in August on charges including enticement of a minor and sexual abuse of a minor.
In November, he pleaded guilty to the charges before Chief United States District Judge Reed O’Connor, who sentenced him to life in prison on Friday, Feb. 27.
The charges came after Larson drove from Sheppard Air Force Base (SAFB) in Wichita Falls, Texas, to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to sexually abuse and ultimately kidnap a 14-year-old girl.
Crimes revealed in court
A release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Texas, revealed the series of events that took place last year leading to Larson's sentence.
Timeline:
On May 3, Larson's car was seen in surveillance footage leaving SAFB, where he was an active airman on base.
Larson picked up the girl from her parents' house around 3:30 a.m. May 4, from which he took her to a nearby park to sexually abuse her, the release says. According to court records, the girl reported this happening before in April, after which Larson took her back home. This time, though, the release says he took her to Texas against her will.
That morning, Larson and the girl were caught on surveillance footage at a gas station in Amarillo. The girl's father soon realized she was missing, and alerted police.
Later on May 4, Larson snuck the victim into SAFB in the trunk of his car, the release says. He reportedly sexually abused her multiple more times while she was hidden in his dorm.
On the evening of May 5, the USAF Security Forces Squadron recovered the girl near Larson’s dorm room.
Further evidence:
According to the release, the girl told officials that Larson had been communicating with her online since she was 10 or 11 years old.
A search of Larson’s phone revealed notes with the child’s name, date of birth, and social media accounts, the release says, showing he knew she was just 14 years old.
The Source: Information in this article comes from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Texas.