A 46-year-old vice president of a central New York school board is facing federal charges for receiving and possessing child pornography after state police found images and videos of infant sexual abuse on his cell phone, Fox News Digital reported. Travis Barr Longo, who also performs as a drag queen under the stage name "Anita Buffem," resigned from the Cazenovia Central School District Board of Education on Monday evening, hours after the board voted unanimously to begin removing him.

New York State Police arrested Longo following an investigation into allegations that he engaged in sexually explicit digital communications with a child under 12 years old. He faces four state counts of endangering the welfare of a child and made a virtual federal court appearance Saturday on the pornography charges.

If convicted on the federal counts alone, Longo faces a mandatory minimum of five years in federal prison. The case raises familiar and uncomfortable questions about how people entrusted with authority over children end up exploiting that trust, and whether the institutions around them failed to see what was happening.

What police found on the phone

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York stated that a June 18 search of Longo's cell phone turned up "numerous images and videos of child pornography," including material depicting the sexual abuse of infants. Those videos, federal prosecutors said, had been received from other users of an internet-based messaging application.

Court records reviewed by WSYR-TV painted an even darker picture. Police recovered chats on the device in which Longo discussed his sexual interest in children with other individuals, "including a minor male child known to him and to whom he has had access," the outlet reported.

That detail, a known child to whom Longo had access, is the kind of fact that should keep parents in the Cazenovia district awake at night. The identity of the child has not been publicly disclosed. Nor has the messaging platform been named.

Elected just last year

Longo won a three-year term on the Cazenovia school board in May 2024 and rose to vice president. He was described as "the first drag performer elected to a school board," a distinction that drew attention well beyond the small district in the center of New York state.

That distinction now carries a very different weight. The man voters placed in a position of oversight over their children's schools stands accused of collecting and sharing some of the most depraved material the law recognizes. The case is a grim reminder that credentials, public personas, and progressive cultural milestones are no substitute for vetting the character of people who hold power over kids.

It is hardly the first time a figure embedded in an educational institution has faced charges of this nature. An Arizona school aide recently faced felony charges after an alleged sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student, another case where proximity to children and institutional trust were allegedly weaponized.

The board's response

The Cazenovia Board of Education issued a statement that tried to balance outrage with procedural caution. The board said it had been "shocked, deeply saddened, and outraged by these serious allegations" and extended "support and assistance to all children and families involved."

"Our response reflects the Board of Education's deep and unwavering commitment to every child's safety, and well being. Our charge to protect every student in our District is our moral and ethical duty, along with a responsibility to the sworn oath that is our legal obligation."

The board also said it stood "strong in condemning these alleged actions" while acknowledging that "it is the responsibility of the judicial system to determine guilt or innocence." It thanked law enforcement for "their partnership with us in protecting our students."

On Monday evening, the board voted unanimously to begin formal removal proceedings against Longo. He resigned before those proceedings could play out. Superintendent Kevin Linck posted the announcement of Longo's resignation that same evening.

The speed of the resignation does not answer the harder question: whether anyone in the district had reason to suspect Longo's behavior before state police got involved. That question remains open.

A pattern that demands attention

Cases like this are not isolated. Across the country, people in positions of authority, teachers, coaches, clergy, administrators, continue to face arrest for child exploitation. A Florida ex-pastor was recently convicted on 12 felony counts and sentenced to life for sexually abusing children. The common thread is always the same: trust, access, and the willingness of institutions to assume the best about people who present well.

Federal prosecutors have not disclosed whether Longo has entered a plea. No defense attorney or statement on his behalf has been identified in available reporting. The investigation appears to be ongoing, and the reference in court documents to a "minor male child known to him" suggests the case could expand.

The Justice Department has shown a willingness to pursue these cases aggressively in recent months. DOJ recently moved to strip citizenship from a convicted priest who sexually abused children in Maryland, a signal that federal authorities view child exploitation as a priority that warrants every available legal tool.

Longo's federal charges carry a mandatory minimum of five years. Given the nature of the material described, videos depicting the sexual abuse of infants, and the chat evidence suggesting a known child was discussed as an object of sexual interest, the eventual sentence could be far longer.

What voters deserve to know

The Cazenovia district is small. The board that governs it is a local body with direct influence over school policy, personnel, and the daily environment in which children learn. Voters who put Longo on that board in May 2024 did so in good faith. They deserve a full accounting of what safeguards, if any, existed to screen candidates for positions of authority over minors, and whether those safeguards failed.

They also deserve honesty about the cultural dynamics that surrounded Longo's election. His candidacy was treated in some quarters as a milestone, a celebration of identity rather than a sober evaluation of fitness for a role that carries real responsibility for children's welfare. None of that identity politics caused his alleged crimes. But it may have discouraged the kind of skeptical scrutiny that every candidate for power over children ought to face.

Child exploitation cases involving child pornography production have drawn severe sentences in recent years, and rightly so. The courts exist to protect the most vulnerable. When the accused is someone who held elected authority over a school district, the betrayal cuts deeper.

The board's statement praised law enforcement. That praise is earned. New York State Police and federal prosecutors did their jobs. The system caught Longo. The question now is whether the institutions that elevated him will ask themselves how he got there in the first place.

Children don't get to choose the adults who govern their schools. The rest of us have no excuse for treating that responsibility as anything less than deadly serious.