Former School Committee Member and Boy Scout Leader Pleads Guilty to Charges of Child Sexual Exploitation

BOSTON—A Whitinsville lawyer who was also a Boy Scout troop leader and part-time middle school instructor was convicted today in U.S. District Court in Worcester of charges that he used the Internet to entice minors to engage in unlawful sexual conduct and that he possessed child pornography.

Andrew Jonathan Myers, 34, of Whitinsville, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Timothy S. Hillman to four counts of using the Internet to entice, persuade, or induce a minor to engage in unlawful sexual conduct and of possessing child pornography.

Between July 13, 2012 and July 23, 2012, Myers communicated with a 12-year-old Colorado boy—identified as juvenile victim 1 (JV-1)—over the Internet, first via e-mail and then via Skype. During the course of the communications with JV-1, Myers told JV-1 that he was attractive, directed JV-1 to websites where child pornography could be found, and offered to “find” JV-1 “a place to sleep” if JV-1 came to Massachusetts. Throughout the communications, Myers repeatedly solicited JV-1 to take off his clothes and masturbate over the Skype video streaming service.

On May 7, 2012, May 9, 2012, and June 28, 2012, Myers sent sexually explicit e-mails to three minors with whom he was acquainted, identified as JV-2 (age 13), JV-3 (age 11), and JV-4 (age 14) in which Myers proposed to perform oral sex on the minors. Myers had served as a substitute school teacher for JV-2 and JV-3 and had been the troop leader for JV-4’s scout troop.

Finally, the evidence would have proven that a computer and an external hard drive seized from Myers’ residence at the time of his arrest contained in excess of 600 videos depicting child pornography including an electronic video recording of a Skype video chat between Myers and a minor identified as JV-5, a 13-year-old South Carolina resident, in which JV-5 is depicted engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

Sentencing is scheduled for September 9, 2013. Pursuant to a plea agreement with the government, Myers faces a sentence of between 15 to 21 years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; District Attorney Joseph Early of Worcester County; Colonel Timothy P. Alben, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Chief Walter J. Worhol of the Northbridge Police Department; and Chief Kenny Powell of the Millbury Police Department made the announcement today. This was a joint investigation that was initiated by the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office who discovered Myers’ alleged conduct and provided the information that led to both Myers’ identification and these federal charges. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark J. Grady of Ortiz’s Worcester Office.