Registered Sex Offender Sentenced to Life in Prison for Attempting to Meet A 13-Year-Old to Engage in Sexual Activity

Ocala, Florida - Trevor Hedge (57, Ocala) has been sentenced by United States District Judge Thomas P. Barber to life in federal prison for attempted enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity and committing a felony offense involving a minor as a registered sex offender. A federal jury found Hedge guilty on March 3, 2026. United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, in May 2025, the Ocala Police Department hosted an undercover operation aimed at apprehending individuals using the internet to exploit children. During the operation, a detective from the Marion County Sheriff's Office (UC) posed online as a neglected 13-year-old child. Hedge messaged the UC and, after learning the UC's age, engaged in a sexually explicit conversation. During this conversation, Hedge described his "addiction" to sexual activity with minors and told the UC that he was "grooming" her. On May 22, 2025, Hedge arranged to meet the UC to engage in sexual activity. The Ocala Police Department arrested Hedge when he arrived to pick up the UC at a predetermined location.

Hedge is a registered sex offender. He was convicted of first-degree sexual assault of a minor in 1993.

This case was investigated by the Ocala Police Department, the Marion County Sheriff's Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sarah Janette Swartzberg.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.