AKRON, Ohio — A former Medina High School teacher has been indicted on charges of allegedly trying to meet a teen girl for sex as well as possession of child pornography.
A federal grand jury on Friday returned three criminal counts against Kevin Hedrick, of New Franklin. According to prosecutors, the 37-year-old sent messages over a two-month period to someone he believed was the mother of a 14-year-old girl. In fact, he was actually talking to an undercover U.S. Secret Service Agent.
Officials claim Hedrick went under the alias "Mike Smith" in an online chatroom, and on multiple occasions the educator described in graphic detail the illegal sex acts he wanted to perform on the "mother's" 5 and 14-year-old daughters. The pair discussed meeting so Hedrick could engage in sexual activity with the teen, but afterwards authorities say they traced the messages back to Hedrick's cell phone as well as the Medina City Schools WiFi.
Upon accessing Hedrick's account under the social media website "Kik," investigators assert to have found hundreds of videos and images involving children in a "sexually explicit nature," including at least one video of a girl as young as 7 years old. According to the FBI, Hedrick admitted to engaging in the explicit conversations while speaking to agents in October.
Hedrick was placed on leave from his teaching job that same month, and the district's website no longer lists him as a staff member. The Medina Gazette reports Superintendent Aaron Sable was expecting Hedrick to resign, and if he did not, administrators would take steps to fire him.
