St. Petersburg Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison for Possession and Distribution of Child Pornography

TAMPA—U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington sentenced Andrew Dennis Kromer (34, St. Petersburg) yesterday to 10 years in federal prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for distribution and possession of child pornography. The court also ordered Kromer to forfeit laptop computers and hard drives that he used to facilitate the offenses. Kromer pleaded guilty on November 13, 2012.

According to court documents, Kromer used a social networking website to share and receive numerous images of pre-pubescent boys engaging in explicit sexual activity. Based upon the investigation into the origin of these photographs, the Federal Bureau of Investigation obtained and executed a federal search warrant at Kromer’s residence in St. Petersburg. During the search, agents located and seized a laptop computer belonging to Kromer. A detailed forensic analysis showed that Kromer possessed more than 59,000 images of child pornography. The forensic review also revealed that Kromer was regularly trading images with other individuals over the Internet of children engaging in sadistic and masochistic activity.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Josephine W. Thomas.

It 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.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “Resources.”