Great Falls man sentenced to 25 years in prison for sexually exploiting minor girl in Pennsylvania

GREAT FALLS — A Great Falls man who admitted to inducing a minor girl in Pennsylvania to send him sexually explicit photographs of herself was sentenced today to 25 years in prison to be followed by 20 years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson said.

Andrew Donovan Carter, 29, pleaded guilty in August to sexual exploitation of a child.

Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided. Chief Judge Morris also ordered $6,000 restitution to known victims.

The government alleged in court documents that in August 2020, a Pennsylvania law enforcement agency contacted Carter’s state probation officer regarding Carter using social media to engage in sexually explicit communications with a 14-year-old girl. The probation officer requested assistance from the Great Falls Police Department, which is a member of the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICACTF). The girl told investigators that she met a boy she believed to be was 16 years old, communicated with him online and that he asked her to send him nude pictures of herself.  The supposed 16-year-old boy was Carter. The girl took sexually explicit photographs of herself and sent them to Carter using a cell phone. Carter communicated with the 14-year-old girl for about a year and texted her almost daily, requesting sexually explicit images of the girl. While interviewing Carter, agents learned that he was having similar communications with another child who was about 10 years old.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Cyndee L. Peterson prosecuted the case, which was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, Montana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Great Falls Police Department and Montana Department of Corrections’ Probation and Parole.

This case was initiated under the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative, which was launched in 2006 to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children. Through a network of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and advocacy organizations, Project Safe Childhood attempts to protect children by investigating and prosecuting offenders involved in child sexual exploitation. It is implemented through partnerships including the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The ICAC Task Force Program was created to assist state and local law enforcement agencies by enhancing their investigative response to technology facilitated crimes against children.

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