TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – In a shocking verdict, Andrew John Ewing, 39, of Tallahassee, Florida, was found guilty of possessing images and videos of child pornography.
The guilty verdict returned on Wednesday afternoon, at the conclusion of a two-day trial, was announced by Jason R. Coody, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.
Between October 21, 2022, and November 3, 2022, a Tallahassee Police Department detective on the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force conducted a proactive investigation into the peer-to-peer file-sharing network called BitTorrent to identify users who possessed child pornography material which was available for sharing.
Ewing’s computer was identified as a user who had multiple child pornography image and video files available for download. Upon further investigation, it was determined that Ewing resided in Leon County but outside of the city limits, so the case was referred to the Leon County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) for further investigation.
LCSO deputies—who were also Task Force Officers with Homeland Security Investigations—obtained a search warrant for Ewing’s residence and electronic devices and executed it in early 2023. LCSO’s digital forensic specialist conducted a forensic examination of Ewing’s devices and discovered that several of them contained child pornography depicting children as young as 6 years of age engaged in sexually explicit conduct or who were lewdly exhibiting their genitals.
The jury also heard evidence that in 2014, Ewing was investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for using BitTorrent to possess and share child pornography depicting children under 13 years of age, and that Ewing was convicted of ten counts of possession of child pornography in Leon County in 2016.
Sentencing is scheduled for April 11, 2024, at 1:00 p.m., at the United States Courthouse in Tallahassee before United States District Judge Robert L. Hinkle. Based on his prior child sex offense conviction, Ewing faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years in federal prison, with a maximum of 20 years imprisonment, followed by a term of 5 years to life of supervised release.
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Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Category: Sex Crimes|Cybercrime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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