Columbia Man Indicted For Sex Trafficking Of A Minor

A 37-year-old Columbia man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for attempted enticement and sex trafficking of a minor as well as child pornography offenses.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri alleges that Travis Moreland engaged in online communication with an undercover law enforcement officer posing online as a 16-year-old minor.

Court documents also allege, during Moreland’s conversation with the person he believed to be a minor, that he arranged to meet the purported minor to engage in sexual conduct in exchange for $80 and that his cell phone contained more than 8,000 files depicting Child Sexual Abuse Material.

He was later arrested in late December after arriving at the agreed upon location.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood.