Acting U.S. Attorney Michelle M. Baeppler announced that Andrew Samuel Davis Strickland, 27, of Youngstown, Ohio, was sentenced on Tuesday, April 12, 2022, by U.S. Judge Patricia A. Gaughan to more than 21 years, or 262 months, in prison and ten years of supervised release after Strickland pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child.
“This defendant engaged in reprehensible behavior and perpetrated unspeakable crimes against the most vulnerable of victims,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Michelle M. Baeppler. “This lengthy sentence reflects our commitment to protecting vulnerable victims and punishing individuals who engage in this type of conduct.”
“Coercing and threatening children through social media and further, the sexual exploitation of a child, is callous and repulsive,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Eric B. Smith. “The cooperative efforts among federal, state, and local partners made it possible to bring a devious predator to justice. The FBI will continue to work collaboratively to combine our resources and share our expertise to identify those who commit these appalling crimes.”
According to court documents, in July of 2019, law enforcement officials began an investigation into Strickland after learning that Strickland coerced two minors into engaging in and filming a sexually explicit encounter.
Court documents state that Strickland met one of the victims through Facebook and coerced the victim into providing sexually explicit images. After receiving the images, Strickland then threatened to send the images to the victim’s family members if the victim did not give in to his demands. Additionally, Strickland coerced the victim into engaging in and recording a sexual encounter, which was perpetrated on a second minor victim. Strickland then sent the recording to other members of the first victim’s family.
According to court records, the victim complied with Strickland’s demands out of fear that Strickland would harm the victim or the victim’s family members.
This case was investigated by the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation-Crimes Against Children and the Mahoning Valley Violent Crimes Task Force. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Michael A. Sullivan and Yasmine T. Makridis.