John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ANDREW CUNNINGHAM, 39, formerly of Windsor, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to 216 months of imprisonment, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in March 2017, Cunningham began communicating with a 13-year-old female on Omegle, a website and mobile application designed to pair strangers for text and video chats.  Cunningham first told the minor victim that he was 17, and later stated he was 25.  Cunningham and the minor victim then communicated via text messaging and phone calls for approximately one week.  During that time, Cunningham enticed the minor victim to send him sexually explicit images of herself, and attempted to lure her to travel to Connecticut.

Cunningham has been in state custody since May 2, 2017, when he was arrested on related state charges.  He pleaded guilty in state court to illegal sexual contact with a minor and enticement of a minor, and is currently serving a three-year state sentence.  On November 6, 2018, he pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of count of enticement of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity.

Cunningham was a registered sex offender and was on probation at the time of the offense.  In 2014, Cunningham traveled to Illinois and engaged in sexual activity with a 14-year-old girl.  He had told the girl he was 25 years old when, in fact, he was 34 at the time.  In 2015, he was convicted in Illinois of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a minor and was sentenced to five years in prison and two years of mandatory supervised release.  He was released from prison in December 2016.

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Connecticut State Police, with the assistance of Connecticut State Parole.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy V. Gifford.

This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ANDREW CUNNINGHAM, 38, formerly of Windsor, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to one count of count of enticement of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in March 2017, Cunningham began communicating with a 13-year-old female on Omegle, a website and mobile application designed to pair strangers for text and video chats.  Cunningham first told the minor victim that he was 17, and later stated he was 25.  Cunningham and the minor victim then communicated via text messaging and phone calls for approximately one week.  During that time, Cunningham enticed the minor victim to send him sexually explicit images of herself, and attempted to lure her to travel to Connecticut.

Cunningham has been in state custody since May 2, 2017, when he was arrested on related state charges.  He pleaded guilty in state court to illegal sexual contact with a minor and enticement of a minor, and is currently serving a three-year state sentence.

Cunningham was a registered sex offender and was on probation at the time of the offense.  In 2014, Cunningham traveled to Illinois and engaged in sexual activity with a 14-year-old girl.  He had told the girl he was 25 years old when, in fact, he was 34 at the time.  In 2015, he was convicted in Illinois of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a minor and was sentenced to five years in prison and two years of mandatory supervised release.  He was released from prison in December 2016.

Judge Arterton scheduled sentencing for February 15, 2019, at which time Cunningham faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of life.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Connecticut State Police, with the assistance of Connecticut State Parole.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy V. Gifford.

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that ANDREW CUNNINGHAM, 37, formerly of Windsor, has been charged by federal criminal complaint with one count of enticement of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity.

The complaint alleges that, in March 2017, CUNNINGHAM began communicating with a 13-year-old female on Omegle, a website and mobile application designed to pair strangers for text and video chats.  CUNNINGHAM first told the minor victim that he was 17, and later stated he was 25.  CUNNINGHAM and the minor victim then communicated via text messaging and phone calls for approximately one week.  During that time, CUNNINGHAM enticed the minor victim to send him sexually explicit images of herself, and attempted to lure her to travel to Connecticut.

CUNNINGHAM appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna F. Martinez in Hartford.  He has been in state custody since May 2, 2017 when he was arrested on state charges.  He previously pleaded guilty in state court to illegal sexual contact with a minor and enticement of a minor, and is currently serving a three-year state sentence.

If convicted of the federal charge, CUNNINGHAM faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years. 

U.S. Attorney Durham stressed that a criminal complaint is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Connecticut State Police, with the assistance of Connecticut State Parole.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy V. Gifford.