Andrew Hutchinson, Receiving Child Exploitation Images, Louisiana 2014

A Metairie man has been found guilty of receiving and attempting to receive sexually explicit images of children.

Andrew Hutchinson, 24, of New Orleans, pleaded guilty to a one-count Bill of Information for crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children. Specifically, Hutchinson pleaded guilty to receiving and attempting to receive sexually explicit images of children.

According to court documents, Hutchinson used a mobile cellular phone chat application to converse with a 12-year-old boy in Seattle, Washington, between July 24, 2014, and July 27, 2014. Knowing that the boy was only 12, Hutchinson requested and received approximately 15 sexually explicit images of the boy via the messaging application. In exchange, Hutchinson provided the boy with sexually explicit images of minor females as young as approximately 5 years old.

Hutchinson also provided the boy with a link to an online cloud storage account that contained approximately 1,766 images and 19 videos depicting minor females as young as approximately 18 months old engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

Hutchinson faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 5 years and a maximum penalty of 20 years, followed by up to a life term of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. He can also be required to register as a sex offender.

U.S. District Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle set sentencing for February 3, 2016. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg is in charge of the prosecution.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edla/pr/metairie-man-pleads-guilty-receiving-images-and-videos-depicting-sexual-victimization