Ex-Cop Andrew Hammock Gets 18 Years for Child Luring

Andrew Christian Hammock, a 48-year-old former police officer from Boca Raton, Florida, is headed to federal prison for 18 years and 8 months after attempting to lure what he believed was a 14-year-old girl into sexual activity and demanding she produce child sex abuse images. The sentence, handed down by U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard in Jacksonville, marks a brutal fall from grace for a man once sworn to protect the public.

Hammock, who served with the Margate Police Department at the time of the crimes, was convicted by a federal jury on June 25, 2021. Over a six-week period in early 2020, he bombarded an undercover FBI agent—posing as a minor—with more than 4,700 private messages through a social media app. After learning the supposed girl was 14, Hammock responded with, “bet you look amazing in a bikini,” and immediately began probing her about sexual experience.

Despite acknowledging the legal peril, Hammock told the undercover agent he could get in serious trouble for speaking with someone under 18. Yet he continued, even sending photos of himself in his police uniform and branding himself a “protector.” The messages turned increasingly graphic, with Hammock confessing he was aroused and expressing a desire to help the “child” experience her first orgasm.

He repeatedly demanded explicit images of the girl’s genitals, instructing her on how to pose and what to send. The chilling digital trail exposed a predator hiding behind a badge, using the authority of law enforcement to manipulate and groom a minor—except the minor was an FBI agent closing in on him.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation led the investigation, working alongside Hammock’s own department—the Margate Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kelly S. Karase and Ashley Washington. Hammock was also ordered to serve six years of supervised release, register as a sex offender, and forfeit the cellphone used in the crimes.

This case was prosecuted under Project Safe Childhood, the DOJ’s nationwide initiative launched in 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation. The program combines federal, state, and local efforts to track down predators, dismantle networks, and rescue victims. Hammock’s conviction is a grim reminder: sometimes, the threat wears a badge.