Cazenovia School Board VP Travis Longo Arrested on Child Sex Charges, Faces Federal Child Pornography Count

What Happened

New York State Police arrested Travis J. Longo, 46, of Cazenovia on June 18 and charged him with four counts of endangering the welfare of a child. According to the state police, investigators determined Longo engaged in a pattern of sexually explicit communications with a child under the age of 12.

The charges escalated further. Ground.news reported that Longo appeared in federal court on Saturday on charges stemming from what investigators found on his seized phone: images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of infants. A spokesperson for the United States Attorney's Office confirmed the federal appearance, according to Ground.news and a report reposted by KVI.com.

Longo had been arraigned on the state charges and released, according to the Madison County Jail, as reported by Breitbart.

His Role on the School Board

Longo was elected to the Cazenovia School District Board of Education in May 2024 to a three-year term running through June 2027. As of Saturday morning, the district's website still listed him as board vice president, according to Breitbart.

Superintendent Kevin Linck issued a statement after the district became aware of the arrest on June 19. "The District became aware of the arrest of our Board of Education vice-president Travis (Barr) Longo when the news was publicly disseminated at approximately 10:00 this morning," Linck said. "Mr. Barr is not an employee of the District, he was elected by the Cazenovia voters to a 3-year term in May of 2024. The role of a school board member is not a student facing role."

Linck added that the district has retained legal counsel to review the matter and determine next steps, and that Longo is prohibited from entering school grounds or attending district-sponsored events in the interim. The district noted it is "strictly limited in details" it can share publicly while the matter remains under legal review.

Madison County District Attorney Robert Mascari said that public office carries a "heightened expectation of trust," according to Ground.news.

Pride Group Dissolved

Longo founded what became Cazenovia Pride Inc. and was listed as a "hostess" at the organization's inaugural festival in 2021, according to The Blaze. He performed in drag under the name "Anita Buffem." A post on his Facebook profile had described him as the first drag artist elected to an official position in the U.S., a claim referencing his school board position, per Breitbart. The Outrun Coalition, a Democratic advocacy account, celebrated his 2024 election on social media.

Following news of his arrest, Cazenovia Pride Inc. posted a statement on Facebook, since deleted, announcing it was canceling the Pride Festival scheduled for June 27 and dissolving the organization entirely. "Travis Longo has no further affiliation with Cazenovia Pride Inc.," the statement read, according to The Blaze and ZeroHedge.

Neither Longo nor the school board responded to comment requests from The Blaze as of its June 20 report.

The Strongest Counter-Concern

Some will argue that coverage of this case unfairly implicates drag performance or LGBTQ+ advocacy as a category, and that concern deserves a straight answer. Longo's alleged crimes are his own. The existence of child sexual abuse material on a person's phone has nothing to do with drag performance as an art form, and the overwhelming majority of people involved in LGBTQ+ community organizations are not predators. Cazenovia Pride itself dissolved and publicly disavowed Longo the moment charges became public. That response was immediate and unambiguous.

The public-interest question here is institutional. A man accused of sending explicit messages to a child under 12 and now facing federal charges tied to infant abuse imagery held an elected oversight role in a school district. That is the accountability issue, regardless of his other affiliations.

What's Unresolved

State police stated they believe there may be additional victims and asked anyone with information to contact Troop D Headquarters at (315) 366-6000, referencing case number NY2600762245.

It remains unresolved whether and when Longo will be formally removed from the school board. New York State law governs the removal of elected school board members, and the district's statement indicates lawyers are still working through that process. His term runs to June 2027. The district has barred him from school property, but barring someone from grounds and removing them from office are two different things, and no removal has been announced.