Bradenton man sentenced in child sex abuse, food contamination case, records say
A Bradenton man is set to spend years in prison after investigators said he shared a video claiming he contaminated restaurant food with his semen while trading child sexual abuse material online.
A judge sentenced Travis Lee Montgomery, 35, to up to 15 years in state prison after he pleaded no contest Nov. 6 to multiple felony charges tied to child sexual exploitation and a conspiracy to commit product tampering, court records show.
Circuit Judge Frederick Mercurio adjudicated Montgomery guilty after he pleaded no contest to one count of soliciting sexual images involving a child, six counts of possessing child sexual abuse material, unlawful use of a two-way communication device and a felony conspiracy charge tied to product tampering, court records show. As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors dropped a separate first-degree felony count of consumer product tampering. Montgomery was also designated a sexual offender, according to the records.
Although Montgomery was sentenced on multiple felony counts, the prison terms will be served at the same time, capping the sentence at 15 years, court records show.
An attorney representing Montgomery did not immediately respond to the Bradenton Herald’s request for comment.
Bradenton man sentenced in food contamination case
The case drew statewide attention earlier this year as part of a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation into online child exploitation.
The investigation began after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported that a user on the messaging app Kik shared about 13 images and videos depicting child sexual abuse material, according to an arrest report. One of the images allegedly included text advertising the sale of such material, according to detectives.
Investigators said they traced the Kik account to Rachel Openshaw-Tapia, a 29-year-old Canadian woman living in Washington state. According to arrest records, Openshaw-Tapia told police she shared sexual images of 5-year-old and 6-year-old girls with an “online paramour” to keep him sexually interested. Investigators said they identified that man as Montgomery.
Text messages between Montgomery and Openshaw-Tapia showed he received files depicting the abuse material and later sent her a video in which he claimed he ejaculated into a tub of guacamole at a Sarasota Tex-Mex restaurant where he worked as a chef, according to the arrest report. In later messages, Montgomery joked that customers had eaten the contaminated food.
“The guac sold out earlier (by the way),” Montgomery wrote in one message, according to the arrest report.
FDLE agents executed a search warrant at Montgomery’s Bradenton home on April 17 and seized electronic devices that investigators said contained child sexual abuse material.
FDLE operation targets child sexual abuse
Montgomery’s arrest was part of a coordinated FDLE operation that led to the arrests of two other men statewide accused of possessing and sharing child sexual abuse material. Kevin Randall Sheffield, 41, of Naples and Jason Grant Harrison, 46, of Jacksonville were also arrested as part of the investigation, FDLE said.
“These arrests reflect our ongoing commitment to child protection,” Attorney General James Uthmeier said at the time of the arrests. “If you are trying to prey on kids, we are watching and we are coming for you.”
FDLE Commissioner Mark Glass echoed that message, saying the defendants were accused of exploiting children in “horrific, unimaginable ways.”
“Let me be clear,” Glass previously said. “If you exploit or harm a child in Florida, FDLE will find you and we will hold you accountable.”
