A former Pinellas Park teacher will spend the next two decades in federal prison after walking straight into an undercover FBI sting.
Lee Hughes, 46, was sentenced on Thursday by U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber to a 20-year federal prison term. The sentencing follows his January 30, 2026, guilty plea to multiple federal charges, including the attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor, attempted coercion and enticement of a minor, and the receipt and possession of child sex abuse material.
The arrest was the culmination of a months-long online investigation. As the Tampa Free Press reported in February 2026, Hughes spent months communicating online with an undercover officer. Throughout those conversations, Hughes operated under the explicit understanding that the officer had a 9-year-old daughter.
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Court documents reveal that Hughes used the chats to express a specific desire to sexually abuse the fictional girl. He also sent explicit photos and videos of himself to the undercover agent, requesting that they be shown to the child.
The online charade ended on May 1, 2025, when Hughes drove to a designated location expecting to engage in sexual activity with the child. Instead, FBI agents were waiting at the scene and took him into custody immediately.
United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced the sentence on Thursday. The investigation was handled entirely by the FBI, while Assistant U.S. Attorneys Abigail K. King and Courtney Derry led the prosecution.
The arrest and subsequent conviction fall under Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative launched in May 2006. The program coordinates federal, state, and local law enforcement resources specifically to track down online child exploiters and rescue victims.
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