Independence man sentenced to 15 years after sending undercover agent child pornography
An Independence, Missouri, man was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison Friday for sending child pornography over the internet, including to an undercover agent posing as a 13-year-old girl.
U.S. District Judge Greg Kays sentenced Thomas E. Andries, 32, after he pleaded guilty in September 2021 to distributing child pornography over the internet. Andries admitted to sending videos on the app Kik to an FBI Child Exploitation Task Force officer during a sting operation in February 2019, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In May 2019, officers executed a search warrant at Andries’s home and seized his cell phone, which had around 20 photos and 48 videos of child pornography, some of which depicted young children and toddlers. He told law enforcement he had received the pornography via Kik and saved them to his phone.
Investigators also found 12 videos via Andries’s Google Photos collection, and 97 videos and 38 images in his Dropbox, including pornographic images of toddlers and child bestiality.
He then admitted to being involved in group chats that discussed sexual abuse of children and exchanged pornography files.
Authorities said Andries told investigators he communicated with three young girls starting in 2018, at least one of whom he said he had sent child pornography.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the Independence Police Department.