Des Moines Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Federal Prison for Child Exploitation and Child Pornography Charges

DES MOINES, Iowa - A Des Moines man was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for three counts of attempted sexual exploitation of a child and one count of possession of child pornography.

According to public court documents, Tyler Boyd Pavlick, 33, placed a mini video camera in the tank of a porta-potty at three Central Iowa events: co-ed middle school and high school cross-county meets, one held in State Center on September 23, 2025, and another held in Osceola on September 30, 2025; and an arts, craft, and harvest event held in Des Moines on October 4, 2025. Pavlick placed the cameras with the purpose of creating visual depictions of minors lasciviously exhibiting their anus, genitals, or pubic area. Law enforcement seized electronic devices during a search of Pavlick's Des Moines residence on October 15, 2025, including mini cameras that were the same model as those seized by police from the porta-potties in State Center and Des Moines. One of the electronic devices seized from Pavlick's residence contained video footage of minors using the porta-potty at the Osceola event, including footage of a minor under the age of 12.

After completing his term of imprisonment, Pavlick will be required to serve a 10-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. Pavlick will be required to register as a sex offender in his state of residence.

United States Attorney David C. Waterman of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The FBI Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Task Force, Marshall County Sheriff's Office, Des Moines Police Department, and Iowa DCI Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Adam Kerndt prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.