FBI agent posing as 12-year-old girl ensnares alleged pedophile in California

A 41-year-old Ventura man is facing the possibility of life in prison after he sent a federal agent posing as both a dad and a daughter sexually explicit photos, authorities announced earlier this week.  

Trevor Lyons began speaking to the undercover agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in August 2024 on the Kik messaging app. At the time, the agent was posing as the father of a 12-year-old girl who used the name “UC Dad,” the L.A. Times reported.  

According to the indictment, Lyons responded, “Oooof. A tad young but do you have pics?” when the undercover officer gave him the age of his fictitious daughter. 

Federal officials also said Lyons told UC Dad that he wanted to talk to the young girl, saying, “I’d love to see how much of a freak she is.”  

The 41-year-old then offered photos of his own 17-year-old daughter from when she was 15 years old and continued to have sexually explicit conversations with UC Dad that month on Telegram.

In September 2024, Lyons added what he thought was UC Dad’s 12-year-old girl as a friend on Discord, telling her that he was 40 and asking if she had ever seen a penis before, the indictment details. As the conversations continued to escalate, investigators say he asked UC Dad’s daughter if she had ever performed oral sex and offered to teach her how before sending an explicit photo and video with a request that she perform it on him.  

Law enforcement seized various electronics from Lyons in December 2024, including an iPhone 16, an iPad and a Samsung Galaxy flip phone.  

In the indictment, filed in August this year, investigators allege Lyons had a yearslong history of distributing child pornography along with accusations that in May 2020, he coerced a minor to engage in sexually explicit acts for photographs that would be distributed as child sexual abuse materials.  

The 41-year-old, according to federal investigators, went by several usernames online, including Defi Samurai, Carly and Herbdoc.  

He was arrested Oct. 20 after a federal grand jury charged him in a nine-count felony indictment with sexual exploitation, attempted sexual exploitation of a child for the purpose of producing sexually explicit visual depiction, attempted enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity and distribution of child pornography, according to the FBI.  

“If convicted on all charges, Lyons faces a statutory maximum sentence of life in prison,” federal officials said.