A former Pinellas County teacher has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to charges involving child exploitation, federal prosecutors announced.
Lee Hughes, 46, of Pinellas Park, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber for attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor, attempted coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in unlawful activity, and receipt and possession of child sex abuse material.
Hughes pleaded guilty on Jan. 30, 2026, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
Federal prosecutors said Hughes communicated online for months with an undercover officer whom he believed had a 9-year-old daughter. According to court documents, Hughes expressed a desire to abuse the child and sent explicit photos and videos of himself, asking that they be shown to the purported child.
On May 1, 2025, Hughes arrived at a predetermined location to meet the child and was arrested by FBI agents at the scene, prosecutors said.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Abigail K. King and Courtney Derry.
Federal officials said the case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to combat child exploitation and abuse. The program brings together federal, state and local resources to identify, investigate and prosecute offenders who exploit children, particularly through the internet.
