DES MOINES — An Iowa man who secretly planted miniature cameras inside portable toilets at youth sporting events and other public gatherings has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison after admitting to child exploitation crimes.
Tyler Boyd Pavlick, 33 of Des Moines, was sentenced August 26 to 20 years behind bars after pleading guilty to three counts of attempted sexual exploitation of a child and one count of possession of child pornography.
Pavlick did not take the case to trial. He pleaded guilty May 1 in federal court, bringing to a close a case that began after hidden cameras were discovered inside porta-potties at events attended by children in Central Iowa.
NorthIowaToday.com first reported on Pavlick’s arrest in October 2025, when authorities said investigators had linked him to hidden cameras discovered at events in Marshall County and Des Moines and warned that additional victims could be identified.
Federal prosecutors later revealed that Pavlick had placed miniature video cameras in the tanks of porta-potties at three separate events.
The first was a co-ed middle school and high school cross-country meet held in State Center on September 23, 2025.
A second camera was placed at another middle school and high school cross-country meet in Osceola on September 30.
The third incident occurred during an arts, crafts and harvest event in Des Moines on October 4.
According to federal court documents, Pavlick installed the cameras for the purpose of secretly creating sexually explicit recordings of minors using the portable toilets.
Investigators closed in on Pavlick after law enforcement agencies compared evidence recovered from the cameras.
On October 15, 2025, authorities executed a search warrant at Pavlick’s Des Moines residence and seized multiple electronic devices.
Among the evidence were miniature cameras that were the same model as cameras police had recovered from porta-potties in State Center and Des Moines.
The search produced even more disturbing evidence.
Federal prosecutors said one electronic device seized from Pavlick’s residence contained video recordings of minors using the porta-potty at the Osceola event. One of the children depicted in the footage was younger than 12 years old.
Pavlick was initially arrested in October 2025 on state allegations including sexual exploitation of a minor and invasion of privacy.
The federal investigation followed, and a federal grand jury eventually returned a 13-count indictment against Pavlick in December 2025 alleging offenses involving the production and attempted production of sexually explicit images of children as well as possession of child sexual abuse material.
Pavlick ultimately admitted guilt to three attempted child sexual exploitation charges and one child pornography possession charge.
His 20-year prison sentence will not be shortened through parole because there is no parole in the federal prison system.
After Pavlick completes the prison term, he must serve another 10 years under federal supervised release.
He will also be required to register as a sex offender in whichever state he resides.
The investigation was a major collaborative effort involving federal, state and local authorities.
The FBI Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Task Force, Marshall County Sheriff’s Office, Des Moines Police Department and Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigated the case.
Iowa’s ICAC Task Force operates within the DCI Cyber Crime Bureau, which investigates criminal activity involving a significant cyber, technological or digital component.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Kerndt prosecuted the federal case.
The prosecution was also part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide U.S. Department of Justice initiative aimed at identifying, apprehending and prosecuting people who sexually exploit children and locating and protecting victims.