KANSAS CITY, KAN. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Kansas), published as received.

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A Missouri man was sentenced to seven years in prison for using the internet to arrange a sexual encounter with a minor without realizing he was actually communicating with an undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent.

According to court documents, James D. Fishbaugh, 53, of Blue Springs, Missouri, pleaded guilty to one count of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.

In August 2025, Fishbaugh used a social media account to chat with an undercover FBI posing online as a minor living in Kansas. When the agent purported to be a 14-year-old girl, Fishbaugh responded by claiming he was 49. Fishbaugh then shifted the conversation to be sexual in nature. He asked “the girl” if she was a virgin and if she was “kinky.” 

Fishbaugh drove from his home in Missouri to a designated meeting place in Kansas, where agents arrested him and found condoms on his person.  Fishbaugh told officers that he believed he was talking to a 14-year-old girl and that he traveled to the residence to have sex with the minor.

“Protecting children from sexual exploitation remains one of our highest priorities,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser. “The defendant continued pursuing what he believed was a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old child and took substantial steps to carry out that encounter. Thanks to the FBI’s proactive investigative work, he was stopped before any child could be victimized. Our office will continue working with our law enforcement partners to identify, investigate, and prosecute those who seek to exploit children.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Audrey McCormick prosecuted the case.

Project Safe Childhood
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

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