A Level 3 offender from Albert Lea has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of distributing child pornography.

Travis Kyle Mayer, 30, was taken from the Freeborn County jail by federal authorities Friday morning.

He also faces charges of transferring obscene matter to a minor and penalties for registered sex offenders.

Mayer had previously faced state charges for allegedly exchanging sexual text and video messages with a 15-year-old girl from Albany, Oregon, but those charges have been dismissed.

“We are informed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office that the penalties for these offenses are substantial, far more so than the charges he faced in Freeborn County,” Freeborn County Attorney David Walker said. “Our action in dismissing the case will facilitate bringing him to justice swiftly in the federal system.”

Mayer was initially charged after an Albert Lea detective spoke with an Oregon police officer Aug. 23 regarding a child pornography case involving the girl. Earlier that month, the Albany officer spoke to the girl’s mother, who said her daughter told her someone going by the name of “Tyler Cole” — later identified as Mayer — on the internet had gotten mad at her and was threatening to send nude photographs of her “to everyone on the internet,” court documents state.

The two allegedly met online in early April 2018.

Court documents state sexually explicit videos from Mayer were found on the girl’s phone.

The girl allegedly told Mayer she was 15 immediately after they started talking. She said Mayer was originally hesitant but later said he was 18.

Mayer is classified as a Level 3 offender, an offender with the highest likelihood of reoffending. He moved to Albert Lea in April 2018 after being released from prison for third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a 13-year-old girl.

 

See what happened over the weekend in the PM report here.