Baxter Springs man sentenced for enticing minor to produce and send him child pornography

WICHITA, KAN - A Kansas man was sentenced to 222 months in prison for enticing a minor to create and send him child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

According to court documents, Garrett Gayoso, 25, of Baxter Springs pleaded guilty to one count production of child pornography.

Gayoso met the 16- year-old minor online. Evidence shows the victim was quickly forthcoming with Gayoso about her age. Gayoso groomed and convinced the victim to engage in sexually explicit activity, produce visual depictions of the conduct, and then send him the images via text messages. Between August 2024 and April 2025, Gayoso exchanged text messages with the minor that contained over 100 CSAM images.

"The defendant in this case was a law enforcement officer at the time this crime occurred. It's deeply troubling that someone who took an oath to protect and serve the public would turn out to be someone from whom our society needs protection," said U.S. Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser. "Child predators are master manipulators. Children should be taught that any time someone directs them to keep secrets from trusted adults that is not someone with whom they should be communicating."

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) investigated the case.

Project Safe Childhood
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 CEOS, 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.