Federal jury finds Detroit man guilty of child porn, sex trafficking

A federal jury Monday found a Detroit man guilty of child pornography and sex trafficking charges, officials said.

Ryon Travis, 38, was convicted by the jury after a three-day trial in U.S. District Court, U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison said Tuesday in a statement. She said the jury deliberated about three hours before returning the verdict.

"This defendant exploited a child and an adult victim in brutal ways," Ison said. "He targeted a vulnerable woman and took advantage of her for his own profit."

Travis is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 23 and he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison for the child pornography conviction as well as up to life for the sex trafficking conviction.

The case against Travis stems from a West Bloomfield Township Police investigation. Federal officials charged him with producing, transporting and possessing child pornography in addition to sex trafficking.

On March 2, 2016, and March 21, 2016, West Bloomfield Township police detectives and officers executed search warrants at Travis' home in the 16000 block of Tuller on Detroit’s west side for fraud related to identity theft and missing money totaling more than $50,000.

During one search, they found three women in the home who he claimed were his wives and a cellphone with multiple sexually explicit images involving young children. The case was then turned over to Homeland Security officials.

In the second search, they discovered a 25-year-old woman chained in the living room to a stripper pole and a padlock on her neck. Further investigation revealed Travis was prostituting the woman and three others out of his home. He had restrained her with the chain and padlock after she tried to leave, authorities said.