Long Island man sentenced to more than 9 years on federal child pornography charges

ORLANDO, Fla. — A Long Island man was sentenced Thursday to nine years and seven months in federal prison followed by 10 years of supervised release for receiving and possessing child pornography. The sentence resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Brevard County Sheriff's Office.

According to court documents, Andrew Beasley, 30, of Patchogue, N.Y used a peer-to-peer directory to download images and movies of children being sexually abused and exploited. Law enforcement officers conducted a forensic examination of his computers and hard drives and found that Beasley amassed more than 6,400 images and 265 videos depicting children being sexually abused and exploited.

In addition to his sentence, Beasley is required to register as a sex offender and forfeit the computer equipment he used to commit the crime.

Beasley pleaded guilty Jan. 29.

This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide HSI initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders and child sex traffickers. HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-347-2423 or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-843-5678.

HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.