A 45-year-old Croswell, Michigan man is facing a federal charge after investigators say they traced a Snapchat account used to exchange explicit material with an 11-year-old Ohio girl back to his home internet connection. Trevor Prather was arrested Tuesday and made his initial appearance in federal court in Detroit on Wednesday, September 30, following a monthslong investigation that began with a mother's grim discovery on her daughter's cellphone.
According to ClickOnDetroit, Prather is charged in a criminal complaint filed Wednesday, September 30, with receipt of child pornography, an allegation brought following a referral from the Department of Homeland Security and its Office of Inspector General. The case traces back to August 9, when the mother of the 11-year-old contacted the Marysville Police Department in Ohio after finding sexually explicit videos and images on her daughter's phone.
A Discovery Leads to a Snapchat Account
The mother told investigators she had discovered her daughter had been communicating with unfamiliar people on Snapchat, including a user identified as “travis269657,” per the same account. Investigators located a two-minute video stored in two places on the girl's phone — saved under Snapchat's “Memories” feature and in the phone's regular camera roll — which a federal agent said appeared to depict the 11-year-old engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
Court documents cited by the station describe additional messages exchanged between the child and the account. At one point, “Travis” allegedly responded, “let me call you ok… [redacted] …need you to watch,” and the child then participated in a 47-second video call with the account. Afterward, the user allegedly told her, “you did soooooo goood” and “I love you so much.”
Tracing the IP Address to Michigan
A Marysville detective contacted Snapchat to obtain account information connected to the user, then traced the account's IP address to Agri-Valley Services Corp., the station reported. Agri-Valley Services Corp. subsequently handed over subscriber information identifying Prather at an address in Croswell, leading federal investigators to search his home on September 29.
During that search, Prather initially denied having a Snapchat account, according to the report, before later acknowledging he had held one a few years earlier. He went on to admit that the phone number linked to the Snapchat account was his personal phone, and that a separate number investigators connected to the home's internet router was his work phone — a connection a router search had already confirmed.
Court Appearance and Next Steps
Prather was arrested Tuesday and appeared in federal court in Detroit on Wednesday, September 30. A detention hearing is scheduled for Friday, October 2, at 1 p.m. in Detroit. The complaint alleges a violation tied to 18 U.S.C. § 2252A, a federal statute covering activities related to the sexual exploitation of minors.
Part of a Broader Surge in Reports
Cases like Prather's are unfolding against a backdrop of rapidly rising reports of online child exploitation nationwide. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children says online enticement reports to its CyberTipline jumped from 292,951 to 518,720 year-over-year through June 2025, according to missingkids.org. The organization also reported that generative-AI-related child sexual exploitation reports soared from 6,835 to 440,419 over the same period, while financial sextortion reports climbed from 13,842 to 23,593 and child sex trafficking reports rose from 5,976 to 62,891.
In one case, Charles Forame's victims were girls ages 13 to 16, and sentencing was pending.
The outcome of Prather's case remains pending. No plea has been reported, and the detention hearing set for Thursday will determine whether he remains in custody as the case proceeds.
