New York School Board Official Charged With Federal Child Pornography Offenses

A federal prosecution of a local elected official illustrates how the U.S. Attorney's office exercises jurisdiction over child exploitation material cases that originate at the state level.

Travis Barr Longo, 46, vice president of the Cazenovia Central School District board of education in upstate New York, was arrested on federal child pornography charges after New York State Police seized his cellphone, according to a statement published by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York. Authorities stated the device contained 'numerous' videos and photographs depicting the sexual abuse of minors, including infants. The arrest was made on or about June 19, 2026, based on the U.S. Attorney's Office announcement.

Federal child pornography charges under 18 U.S.C. § 2252 and related statutes carry mandatory minimum sentences and are prosecuted in federal district court regardless of the defendant's state or local office. The Northern District of New York, headquartered in Syracuse, holds jurisdiction over the relevant geographic area that includes Madison County, where Cazenovia is located.

Longo's position as a school board vice president is an elected, typically unpaid role governed by New York State Education Law. School board members are not federal or state employees; they are locally elected officials accountable to district voters. The Cazenovia Central School District had not issued a public statement regarding the matter as of the publication of this article, according to a review of the district's publicly accessible communications.

The federal criminal complaint or indictment filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York would contain the specific charges, counts, and any additional factual allegations. That document, once filed, is publicly accessible through the PACER federal court records system (pacer.uscourts.gov). As of the time of publication, the specific count structure and whether Longo has entered a plea are not confirmed in available public records.

What remains unknown: the full charging document and any bail or detention order from the court; whether additional devices or accounts were examined; and the precise date of the initial state police investigation. Those details would be contained in the federal criminal complaint, the affidavit in support of arrest warrant, and any detention hearing transcript filed under the case docket in the Northern District of New York.