FORT MOHAVE – A near double-decade prison term was ordered Monday for a Fort Mohave man who videotaped women using his bathroom before downloading and purchasing child pornography online about 18 months later. Sentence for Travis Richmond, 38, was imposed by Mohave County Superior Court Judge Derek Carlisle.
Richmond entered a plea deal to avoid the possibility of a more than 100-year prison term if convicted of all charged offenses at trial.
Ten counts are dismissed in exchange for his convictions for two surreptitious recording charges. Those involve his placement of cameras to videotape two women who used one of his bathrooms when he hosted a May 8, 2023 party at his home in the 1900 block of East Easy Street.
Richmond is also convicted of three counts reduced to attempted sexual exploitation of a minor for downloading and possessing electronic files of young children engaged in various forms of sexual activity in late 2024. His actual purchase of a child porn file from an online source in July, 2024 resulted in conviction for sexual exploitation of a minor.
The defendant’s fiance and mother of their two children spoke in support of a partner whom she said was a loving father of their two young girls, a man who worked two jobs to support his family.
Public Defender Bob Heick echoed that input, and explained that his client fell prey to a pornography addiction, after overcoming alcohol and substance abuse involvements. “This is going to be a tougher battle, this type of addiction,” Heieck said, noting his client wants to get help, serve his time and support his family.
“I love my family more than the world,” Richmond told the Court. “It’s all my fault. I failed everyone.”
Richmond apologized to Judge Carlisle, and his restroom voyeur victims. “It’s never okay to invade someone’s privacy,” he said.
“The defendant, in a way, was lying in wait for the victims by planting the cameras in the bathroom,” said Karolina Czaplinska, the deputy Mohave County attorney who said the victims suffer anxiety impact. “They’re afraid to use the restroom when they visit a friend’s house.”
Czaplinska expressed shock that a defendant portrayed as a loving father would seek and possess a video file showing the abuse of young girls of similar age to his oldest daughter.
Judge Carlisle said the prosecutor’s argument was compelling, noting that one of the videos was graphically labeled as a father abusing his 8-year-old daughter.
Terms of the deal mandated a prison sentence from 10.5 to 22 years. Carlisle ordered 18 years prison, followed by lifetime probation, including sex offender registration compliance.
