Jamaican illegal alien who volunteered as local teacher, youth minister sentenced to more than 13 years in prison for child pornography crimes

COLUMBUS, Ohio - An illegal alien from Jamaica who volunteered as a teacher and youth minister in Worthington was sentenced in federal court here today to 160 months in prison for distributing, receiving and possessing child pornography.

Andrew Brown, 51, of Columbus, possessed a total of 15 terabytes of child sexual abuse material across multiple devices. Brown's IP address was flagged by the Franklin County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) as the most active IP address in the state of Ohio using peer-to-peer software to download child pornography.

"This defendant, who overstayed his visa in the United States, was such a prolific perpetrator that when agents arrived at his apartment to execute a search warrant, he was at his computer actively downloading and exchanging images and videos of children being sexually abused, including child pornography depicting infants and toddlers," said U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II. "Adding to the alarm, Brown placed himself in a position of trust with children as a religion teacher and youth minister. Our children undoubtedly are safer with Brown serving this significant term of imprisonment."

Further investigation revealed that Brown was using the computer where he volunteered at Worthington Adventist Academy and Worthington Seventh-Day Adventist Church to download child pornography when not at home. In fact, the IP address for the church and school was flagged as the third most active IP address in Ohio downloading child pornography.

Between October 2023 and April 2024, Brown possessed more than 40,000 files of minors engaged in sex acts.

Brown was charged by a bill of information and pleaded guilty in March 2025.

Dominick S. Gerace II, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Jared Murphey, Acting Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Detroit; Franklin County Sheriff Dallas Baldwin and other members of the Franklin County Sheriff's Office's ICAC Task Force; Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael C. O'Malley; and Ohio ICAC Task Force Commander David Frattare announced the sentence imposed today by U.S. District Court Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr. Assistant United States Attorney Emily Czerniejewski is representing the United States in this case.

This case is 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 U.S. Attorney's Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

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