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Edward Wade Green, a 54-year-old man from Aiken, South Carolina, traveled over 700 miles to Toledo, Ohio, with the intention of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a purported 7-year-old girl. In April 2023, Green began communicating with an undercover agent on an online platform, expressing his sexual interest in the agent’s fictitious daughter. After several conversations, Green agreed to meet the girl at a prearranged location in Toledo, where he was apprehended by federal agents.
During a forensic examination of Green’s electronic devices, investigators found visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including at least one image involving a prepubescent minor under the age of 12. Green pleaded guilty in March 2024 to coercion or enticement of a minor, traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, transportation of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and possession of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey J. Helmick sentenced Green to 240 months (20 years) in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release. Green was also ordered to pay $78,000 in restitution to 26 victims. The investigation was conducted by the FBI Toledo Resident Agency’s Child Exploitation Task Force, as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Sara Al-Sorghal and Frank H. Spryszak for the Northern District of Ohio. Green’s sentence reflects the severity of his crimes and the ongoing efforts of law enforcement to protect children from sexual exploitation.
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