THE BREAKDOWN: Trevor Hedge, a 57-year-old registered sex offender from Ocala, Florida, has been sentenced to life in federal prison. Hedge was arrested during a May 2025 undercover operation after communicating online with a detective posing as a 13-year-old girl and arranging a meeting for sexual activity. A federal jury found him guilty in March 2026.
United States District Judge Thomas P. Barber has sentenced 57-year-old Trevor Hedge of Ocala to life in federal prison. The sentence follows a March 3, 2026, conviction by a federal jury for attempted enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity and committing a felony offense involving a minor as a registered sex offender. United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced the final sentencing.
The conviction stems from an undercover operation launched in May 2025 by the Ocala Police Department, which focused on apprehending individuals using the internet to exploit children. As part of the operation, a detective from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office posed online as a neglected 13-year-old child.
According to court documents and evidence presented during the trial, Hedge messaged the undercover account. After learning the age of the person he was messaging, Hedge engaged in a sexually explicit conversation. During the exchange, Hedge described his “addiction” to sexual activity with minors and explicitly told the undercover detective that he was “grooming” her.
On May 22, 2025, Hedge arranged to meet the undercover detective at a predetermined location to engage in sexual activity. Officers from the Ocala Police Department arrested Hedge immediately upon his arrival at the site.
Hedge was already a registered sex offender at the time of his arrest, following a 1993 conviction for first-degree sexual assault of a minor.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Ocala Police Department, and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office jointly investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Sarah Janette Swartzberg served as the prosecutor.
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