A Des Moines resident, Tyler Boyd Pavlick, pleaded guilty on May 1 to three counts of attempted sexual exploitation of a child and one count of possession of child pornography.
According to public court documents, Pavlick, age 33, placed a mini video camera in the tank of a porta-potty at three Central Iowa events. These included co-ed middle school and high school cross-country meets in State Center on September 23 and Osceola on September 30, as well as an arts, craft, and harvest event in Des Moines on October 4. Authorities said Pavlick used the cameras with the intention of creating visual depictions of minors lasciviously exhibiting their anus, genitals or pubic area. Law enforcement searched his residence in Des Moines on October 15 and seized electronic devices including mini cameras matching those found at the event sites. One device contained footage showing minors using the porta-potty at the Osceola event; some footage involved a minor under age twelve.
Pavlick is scheduled for sentencing on July 31 at 9:15 am. Each count of attempted sexual exploitation carries a mandatory minimum sentence of fifteen years and up to thirty years in prison. The charge for possession of child pornography carries up to twenty years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering United States sentencing guidelines along with other statutory factors.
United States Attorney David C. Waterman for the Southern District of Iowa made this announcement. The case is being investigated by several agencies including 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. Assistant United States Attorney Adam Kerndt is prosecuting.
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa supports victims and witnesses through its services unit according to its official website. The office uses facilities located in Des Moines’ Neal Smith Federal Building as well as courthouses in Davenport and Council Bluffs according to its official website. It operates under the United States Department of Justice according to its official website with twenty-four prosecutors serving within the district according to its official website. The office handles both civil and criminal cases for the United States according to its official website across southern Iowa according to its official website, maintaining facilities while working closely with law enforcement partners according to its official website.
