⏱ 2 min read
A 53-year-old Missouri man, James D. Fishbaugh, has pleaded guilty to traveling across state lines to have sex with someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl. The incident occurred in August 2025, when Fishbaugh used social media to communicate with an undercover FBI agent posing as a minor in Kansas. Fishbaugh drove from his residence in Blue Springs, Missouri, to a designated meeting place in Kansas, where he was arrested by agents.
According to court documents, Fishbaugh had told the undercover agent that he was 49 and shifted the conversation to be sexual in nature, expressing his desire to meet the agent. He even stopped to buy condoms along the way, demonstrating his intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
Fishbaugh’s guilty plea is a result of the FBI’s investigation and the prosecution by Assistant U.S. Attorney Audrey McCormick. The case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.
Fishbaugh is scheduled to be sentenced on November 3, 2026, and will face a sentence determined by a federal district court judge, considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
📋 Key Facts
- Crime: Sex Crimes
- Defendant: Kansas
- Location: KS
- Source: DOJ Press Release
MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS
Sex CrimesSex CrimesSex CrimesSex Crimes