A convicted sex offender has moved in with his sister after he was injured in a fire that destroyed a villa in The Villages.
Fred William “Sonny” Trinkle, 63, has registered a temporary address at 2427 Ambler Circle in the Village of Bonnybrook, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The home is owned by his sister.
Trinkle and another man suffered severe burns after a blaze broke out April 18 in the garage at 2771 Horvat Lane in the Tate Gregory Villas in the Village of DeLuna. The two men were airlifted and taken to the burn treatment center at Orlando Regional Medical Center. Trinkle will apparently be continuing his medical convalescence at the home of his sister. As a registered sex offender, he is required to keep local law enforcement abreast of his residency.
The fire was determined to be accidental in nature, caused by an apparent electrical issue involving a portable air conditioning unit. Firefighters encountered a ruptured gas line in the attic, adding complexity to the incident.
The villa is owned by the estate of Trinkle’s late mother, who died in 2024 at age 101. Trinkle had previously lived with her in the Village of Bonnybrook.
Trinkle was convicted in 1996 in Manatee County of a lewd and lascivious offense involving a child. He has also been convicted four times for failure to report his address and failure to comply with reporting requirements. Those instances occurred in 2006 and 2007 in Manatee and Sumter counties.
On Aug. 11, 2009, Trinkle was arrested by Sumter County sheriff’s deputies on a charge of selling cocaine within 1,000 feet of a place of worship. He was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison. He was released June 27, 2014 and moved into his mother’s home in Bonnybrook.
In 2016, he was arrested in a bogus return scheme at a store at Southern Trace Plaza in The Villages. He was placed on probation in that case.