Hagerstown Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Federal Prison for Sexual Exploitation of a Child

Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge George L. Russell, III today sentenced John Frederick Hegedus, age 34, of Hagerstown, Maryland, to 30 years in federal prison, followed by lifetime supervised release, for sexual exploitation of a child.  Judge Russell also ordered that, upon his release from prison, Hegedus must register as a sex offender in the places where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”). 

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron and Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.

According to his guilty plea, Hegedus sexually abused a six-year old girl on seven separate instances between April 26, 2022 and June 9, 2022.  Hegedus admitted that he used his cellular phone to record his abuse of the minor victim and subsequently posted the videos to a child pornography group chat.  The videos were reported to law enforcement and on June 9, 2022, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Hegedus’ apartment and Hegedus was arrested.  During the execution of the warrant, agents noted that the background shown in the videos matched the defendant’s apartment.

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 the United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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 www.justice.gov/psc.  For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the “Resources” tab on the left of the page.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI for its work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen E. McGuinn, who prosecuted the federal case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-childhood and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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