Man Sentenced to 260 Months’ Imprisonment for Coercion and Enticement of a Minor to Engage in Sexual Activity

ST. PAUL - United States Attorney Daniel N. Rosen announced that Trent Fair, 31, was sentenced to 260 months in prison with 20 years of supervised release for coercion and enticement of a minor.

Fair was sentenced before U.S. District Judge Donovan W. Frank on August 11, 2026. He previously pleaded guilty on April 2, 2026.

According to court documents, from approximately August 15, 2024, through February 1, 2025, Fair knowingly used social media applications and the internet to communicate with and groom a then-fifteen-year-old girl for the purposes of obtaining sexually explicit material. The minor victim sent Fair several sexually explicit videos, and Fair admitted that he knew the minor victim was 15 years old at the time. Additionally, in January 2025, Fair traveled from Minnesota to Virginia for the purposes of engaging in sexual activity with the minor victim. While in Virginia, law enforcement was contacted to investigate an altercation involving Fair, and he was arrested after investigators confirmed his sexual abuse of the minor victim.

As the investigation unfolded, law enforcement became aware that Fair had used social media to solicit and obtain child sexual abuse material from several other minor victims, some as young as 10 years old. Confronted with his social media history, Fair admitted to producing child pornography with at least a "few dozen" minor victims for several years. In addition to Fair's online criminal conduct, investigators located an additional minor victim who Fair traveled to and sexually abused.

"The defendant is a serial child sexual predator. This sentence ensures that he is taken off the streets and it is a sign to offenders that my office will find and prosecute those who prey on vulnerable children," said United States Attorney Daniel N. Rosen.

"This arrest sends a clear message to anyone who uses social media to prey on children: we will find you, arrest you, and hold you accountable," said Fairfax County Chief of Police Kevin Davis. "This individual targeted a 15-year-old online and traveled hundreds of miles to exploit that child. Our detectives work relentlessly to identify these predators, protect children from further harm, and support survivors and their families."

"Trent Fair self-identified as a pedophile and admitted to victimizing dozens of children. His conduct is the embodiment of every parent's worst fears when their children go online," said FBI Minneapolis Field Office Special Agent in Charge Christopher D. Dotson. "The FBI will take every available action to stop pedophiles and child predators from harming children. The FBI echoes Judge Frank's statements at sentencing: Responsibility for these offenses lies solely with the defendant, never the victims. The sentence ensures that this defendant will be held to account through prison and probation for over 40 years. We hope this sentence helps the victims and their families in their healing journey."

This case was the result of an investigation by the Fairfax County Police Department in Virginia, FBI, with assistance from the Minneapolis Police Department and other law enforcement partners.

If you or someone you know is a victim of online and in-person sexual exploitation activity, please call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or submit information to tips.fbi.gov.

Assistant United States Attorney Evan Gilead and David B. Green prosecuted the case.

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. Attorney's Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (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 www.justice.gov/psc.