Clarence Henry Andrews, Child Pornography Production, MD 2017

Clarence Henry Andrews, 28, of Silver Spring, Maryland, pleaded guilty on January 27, 2017, to federal charges of production of child pornography, marking a grim escalation in the case of a repeat offender who exploited both technology and religion to prey on children.

Andrews, already a registered sex offender due to a 2010 conviction in Prince George’s County for fourth-degree sexual offense and second-degree assault involving a nine-year-old boy in a Laurel church bathroom, admitted to using video game systems, Skype, FaceTime, text messages, and phone calls to manipulate an 11-year-old boy in Georgia. He promised the victim the video game Advanced Warfare in exchange for sexually explicit images and videos—often invoking the Bible to manipulate compliance.

The plea agreement reveals a disturbing pattern: from 2013 to April 2015, Andrews used the same predatory tactics to target at least eight more minors, all 16 or younger, attempting to coerce them into producing child sexual abuse material. His methods were calculated, leveraging digital platforms popular with youth to build false trust and extract illicit content.

Even more chilling, Andrews admitted to grooming a family through church connections in Olney, Maryland, between April 2013 and October 2014. He visited their home multiple times, using the cover of friendship to isolate two young children. On one occasion, he took an eight-to-nine-year-old girl into a downstairs bathroom, paid her cash to pull down her pants, then touched and photographed her buttocks. He engaged in similar acts with the family’s seven-to-eight-year-old son during other visits.

As part of his federal plea deal, Andrews agreed to plead guilty in Montgomery County Circuit Court (Case No. 130047C) for the Olney abuse and will remain registered as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) for life—at his residence, workplace, or any school he attends. Prosecutors and law enforcement emphasize that his criminal reach spanned state lines and exploited institutional trust.

Under the agreement, Andrews faces 20 to 30 years in federal prison followed by lifetime supervised release. U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm set sentencing for May 12, 2017. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicolas A. Mitchell and Menaka Kalaskar as part of Project Safe Childhood, the DOJ’s nationwide initiative to combat child sexual exploitation. Rosenstein praised the FBI, Montgomery County Police, and State’s Attorney’s Office for their relentless pursuit of justice, with support from Georgia authorities.