Anchorage Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

Anchorage, Alaska – Acting U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder announced today that an Anchorage man was sentenced yesterday in federal court for possession of child pornography and failure to register as a sex offender.

Andrew Weed, 48, of Anchorage, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sharon L. Gleason, to 10 years in prison. Judge Gleason sentenced Weed to a combined sentence of 10 years imprisonment, and lifetime Supervised Release for his convictions on crimes of Child Sexual Exploitation-Possession of Child Pornography, and Failure to Register as a Sex Offender.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Audrey J. Renschen, Weed was previously convicted in Anchorage federal court in 2004, as a sex offender. At that time, Weed was convicted of 18 federal child sexual exploitation crimes, including advertising, transporting, and possessing child pornography. Weed was again caught with child pornography in 2016 that he downloaded at work, and saved at his residence.

FBI Special Agents and APD law enforcement searched Weed’s residence on May 31, 2016, pursuant to a federal search warrant, and found over 106,000 images of child pornography on his computer. After briefly talking to law enforcement that day, outside his residence, Weed fled Anchorage, and thereafter failed to report to work with his employer, and failed to return to his residence. Under federal law, sex offenders are required to notify the State of Alaska Sex Offender Registry within 24 hours of any change of address. Despite knowing about that requirement, Weed failed to report where he moved after leaving his Anchorage residence.

The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) located Weed in Valdez, Alaska, more than two months later. Deputy Marshals arrested him on Aug. 2, 2016, on a federal warrant for failing to update his sex offender registration as required under federal and state law. Weed was then subsequently indicted on child pornography charges, and remained incarcerated after his arrest through his sentencing.

At the sentencing hearing, Judge Gleason noted that Weed’s child pornography crime was a serious one, with a huge amount of images involved [more than 106,000 images].

This prosecution is part of the Department of Justice’s ongoing Project Safe Childhood (PSC) initiative – launched to increase federal prosecutions of sexual predators of children, and to reduce the number of Internet crimes against children including child pornography trafficking. As a part of PSC, the United States Attorney’s Office has teamed with federal, state and local agencies and organizations to increase law enforcement presence on the Internet, and to educate the public about safe Internet use, thereby reducing the risk that children might fall prey to online sexual predators. For additional information on the PSC initiative, please go to www.projectsafechildhood.gov or call the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska.

Acting U.S. Attorney Schroder commends the FBI, APD, and the USMS for their investigation of this case.