West Virginia Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Traveling to Alabama with the Intent to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct with a Minor

 BIRMINGHAM, Ala.  – A federal judge today sentenced a West Virginia man for child exploitation, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Katrina W. Berger.

U.S. District Court Judge Liles C. Burke sentenced Andrew Scott Davis, 37, to 180 months in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release.  Davis pleaded guilty in December 2020 to one count of traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor.  According to the plea agreement, Davis travelled from Circleville, West Virginia to Madison County, Alabama between May 2019 and January 2020, and met with the minor five times. Davis began an online relationship with the minor through Snapchat. This conviction will require him to register as a sex offender in accordance with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). 

“Protecting our children will always be a top priority of my office,” USA Escalona said. “In today’s world of technology, it is important that parents educate their children about safe and appropriate online behavior and immediately report inappropriate contact between an adult and their child to law enforcement.”

“Social media and the internet are great tools for entertainment, education and collaboration, but they can also be great tools for predators looking to victimize our children,” said Special Agent in Charge Katrina W. Berger, who oversees Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) operations in Georgia and Alabama. “HSI and its law enforcement partners are dedicated to finding, arresting, and prosecuting those involved in this heinous crime.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case, along with the Huntsville Police Department, and the Madison County Sheriff’s Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Leann White prosecuted the case.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet,  and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) also encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at (866) 347-2423.  Investigators are available at all hours to answer hotline calls.  Tips or other information can also be submitted to ICE online by visiting their website at www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp or through the Operation Predator smartphone application www.ice.gov/predator/smartphone-app.  Tips may be submitted anonymously.