U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Tuesday sentenced a former youth sports coach to 140 months in prison for trying to have sex with a 13-year-old girl.
On Sept. 24, 2023, Trevor White sent a text to a 13-year-old girl that he knew. White was 41 at the time. He asked for her photo, and in a series of messages about her clothing and their past interactions, probed for a “positive response” from the victim, his plea agreement says. He ended the conversation by sending her a photo of himself shirtless.
The teen reported the suspicious conversation to her parents, who contacted St. Louis County police. The teen’s parents allowed a detective to use her phone, assume her identity, and continue the conversation. Over several days, White became increasingly sexually explicit and sought to arrange a meeting so they could engage in sex. He also requested sexually explicit photos of the “teen” and sent two explicit images to her.
On September 29, St. Louis County detectives arrived at White’s home to interview him. White admitted to participating in the text conversations, admitted to asking the teen for a photo of herself engaging in sexually explicit conduct, and admitted to arranging to pick her up and take her to a park to have sex with her.
White, of Fenton, Missouri, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in April to attempted coercion and enticement of a minor.
In a letter to the court, the teens’ parents said White obtained the teen’s contact information when he bought items for a fundraiser. “Within hours of that exchange, he had already begun to contact her via text message in ways that were inappropriate, predatory, and grotesque,” they wrote. “As you might imagine, she was very shaken and deeply troubled by this, and continues to be.”
The St. Louis County Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hayes prosecuted the case.
