Ayden Man Sentenced To More Than 19 Years For Receipt Of Child Pornography

NEW BERN – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced that in federal court, United States District Judge Louise W. Flanagan sentenced ANDREW DALE MOORE, 29, of Ayden, North Carolina, to 235 months imprisonment, followed by a lifetime of supervised release and a $5,000 fine.

MOORE was named in an eleven count Indictment filed on May 12, 2015.  On July 15, 2015, MOORE pled guilty to one count of Receipt of Child Pornography.

The investigation revealed that on September 15, 2014, ANDREW DALE MOORE, a registered sex offender in Pitt County, North Carolina, contacted his sex offender counselor and acknowledged reoffending.  Specifically, MOORE indicated that his criminal activities began between the ages of 14 and 16 and since that time, he has had sexual contact with at least 17 minor females between the ages of 2 to 14.  Additionally, the defendant acknowledged reoffending since his release from custody on July 8, 2013, as well as possessing child pornography.

Based on the information, the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office

obtained a search warrant.  On September 16, 2014, a search was completed at MOORE’s residence in Ayden, North Carolina.  During the search, agents located and seized two computers, two cellular phones, multiple media storage devices, compact discs (CD’s) and digital video discs (DVDs). Forensic examination revealed child pornography (CP) on one of MOORE’s cellular phones.  Agents determined that the defendant utilized the phone to access the internet and search for CP through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing programs.

The defendant provided an unprotected statement to agents in which he acknowledged receiving and collecting CP through the use of a P2P program.  Additionally, the defendant obtained CP after he met individuals with similar interests on social networking sites.  MOORE advised that he chatted with individuals who sent files containing CP to him through a Dropbox link.  Agents were able to recover at least 150 still images and 50 videos containing CP from MOORE’s Dropbox account. Additionally, forensic examination uncovered at least 1,000 images and 100 videos stored on the defendant’s cellular phone. The defendant’s collection contained material that portrayed sadistic or masochistic conduct.  Based on the investigation, MOORE is responsible for receiving and possessing at least 12,400 images of CP through the use of a computer or interactive computer service.

Investigation of this case was conducted by the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office.  Assistant United States Attorney Ethan Ontjes represented the government.

This case was part of the Project Safe Childhood initiative, a national program aimed at ensuring that criminals exploiting children are effectively prosecuted by making full use of all available law enforcement resources at every level.  For more information about this important national project, Project Safe Childhood, go to www.projectsafechildhood.gov.