Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced that a Camden County man was sentenced to state prison today for sending numerous images and videos of explicit images of minors via the Internet to an undercover federal agent posing as a mother, in the belief that the “mother” would arrange for a webcam sex show for him in which her 11-year-old daughter would perform oral sex on her father.
Andrew Derrickson, 50, of Lindenwold, was sentenced to seven years in state prison, including 3 ½ years of parole ineligibility, by Superior Court Judge John T. Kelley in Camden County. He pleaded guilty on Jan. 19 to a second-degree charge of distribution of explicit images of minors. The charge was contained in a June 16, 2015 state grand jury indictment. Derrickson will be required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law and will be subject to parole supervision for life.
Derrickson was indicted in an investigation by ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Cherry Hill and the Division of Criminal Justice, assisted by the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office and the Lindenwold Police Department.
The investigation began in early 2014 when HSI initiated an investigation of individuals using Internet chat rooms to exchange explicit images of minors. Derrickson engaged in an online chat with a special agent of HSI who posed as a mother with an 11-year-old daughter. During the chat, Derrickson agreed to send videos and images of explicit images of minors in exchange for the “mother” arranging a webcam show of her daughter performing oral sex on her father.
On four occasions, Derrickson sent explicit images of minors to the undercover agent, sending a total of approximately 75 videos and images of explicit images of minors, including numerous images of prepubescent girls being sexually assaulted. He engaged in additional online chats with the agent in which he continued to request that she deliver the promised webcam sex show involving her daughter. Derrickson used a screen name during the chats, but investigators traced the Internet Protocol address associated with the name to Derrickson’s house in Lindenwold, where the investigating agencies executed a search warrant on Oct. 9, 2014 and arrested Derrickson.
A forensic examination of Derrickson’s computer conducted at the FBI’s Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory in Hamilton revealed approximately 227 images and 925 videos of suspected explicit images of minors. All of the videos and a majority of the images were in a designated “shared folder” on Derrickson’s computer, where they were readily available for any other user to download using file-sharing software.
The investigation revealed that, from January through September 2014, Derrickson distributed in excess of 100 suspected images and videos of explicit images of minors to other Skype Messenger users.
Acting Attorney General Hoffman and Director Honig urged anyone with information about distribution of explicit images of minors on the Internet – or about suspected improper contact by unknown persons communicating with children via the Internet or possible exploitation or sexual abuse of children – to please contact the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Tipline at 888-648-6007.