Youngstown man sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to sexual exploitation of a child

A Youngstown man has been sentenced to more than 21 years in prison and 10 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to sexual exploitation of a child.

Andrew Samuel Davis Strickland, 27, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. Judge Patricia A. Gaughan.

“This defendant engaged in reprehensible behavior and perpetrated unspeakable crimes against the most vulnerable of victims,” acting U.S. Attorney Michelle M. Baeppler said in a news release. “This lengthy sentence reflects our commitment to protecting vulnerable victims and punishing individuals who engage in this type of conduct.”

Law enforcement officials began an investigation into Strickland in July 2019 after learning that he coerced two minors into engaging in and filming a sexually explicit encounter, court documents state.

Strickland met one of the victims through Facebook and coerced the victim into providing sexually explicit images, according to court documents. After receiving the images, Strickland then threatened to send the images to the victim’s family members if the victim did not give in to his demands.

He also coerced the victim into engaging in and recording a sexual encounter with a second minor victim, and then sent the recording to other members of the first victim’s family, court documents state.

“The cooperative efforts among federal, state and local partners made it possible to bring a devious predator to justice,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Eric B. Smith said in the release.

The case was investigated by the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI, Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation-Crimes Against Children and the Mahoning Valley Violent Crimes Task Force.

This story was originally published April 14, 2022 at 5:05 AM.