07/15/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/15/2025 15:35
Fort Myers, Florida - U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell today sentenced Andrew Roger Torres (47, Fort Myers) to 5 years in federal prison for possessing and accessing with intent to view images depicting the sexual abuse of children. Torres pleaded guilty on August 20, 2024.
According to court documents, from February 3 through August 24, 2023, Torres possessed and accessed with intent to view images of child sexual abuse that he had searched for using social media applications and the internet.
In December 2022 and February 2023, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received two cybertips from electronic service providers reporting that Torres had uploaded videos that depicted child sexual abuse material from his cellphone.
When law enforcement executed a search warrant at Torres's home, they seized two cellphones. Torres agreed to speak with officers and advised that he had used a social media account to collect child sex abuse material. Torres said that he primarily downloaded the files online to his cellphone, viewed the files, and then deleted them. The subsequent forensic examination of Torres's cellphones revealed images of child sexual abuse material.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Fort Myers Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, which includes the Lee County Sheriff's Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Yolande G. Viacava.
This is another case 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. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.