Travis Whittemore Pilot dead and obituary, Commercial pilot accused of driving 4 hours

Montgomery County prosecutors say Travis Jared Whittemore, a 35-year-old commercial pilot who drove four hours from the Dallas area to Conroe, had sex with a child under 10 relation.

“There has been an increase in these cases,” Assistant District Attorney Lola Beckman said. Social media apps are like a playground, and kids are the target, Beckman said.

“It’s not a dark web app that you have to be very secretive to access,” she said. “Our kids can use these.” Beckman says you never know who’s really behind it.

“These perpetrators do not have typical characteristics,” she said.

According to court documents, Whitmore traveled from the Dallas area to Conroe last Wednesday to have sex with a child under the age of 10.

Beckman said he was an Air Force veteran who served as a pilot for a major airline.

“This worries us for several reasons,” she said. “We know he traveled internationally as a pilot and had access to others outside the jurisdiction.”

When they confiscated his phone, she said they found child pornography.

He is now charged with soliciting minors online and dual possession of child pornography.

“If we can catch these pedophiles before they get to our kids, we’re doing a great service to the community,” Beckman said.

Whittemore holds $90,000 in bonds. He faces up to 20 years in prison for charging a minor online and up to 10 years for any possession of child pornography. If convicted, he must also be registered as a sex offender.