CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. – Earlier this month, 33-year-old Andrew Ezekial Lynch of Crystal River was convicted for the production of child pornography.
Lynch was sentenced to serve 29 years in prison, plus an additional 20 years of supervised release, by U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra, Jr.
According to court documents, between May 2017 and May 2018, Lynch contacted five female victims ranging from 13 to 17 years old through Facebook Messenger using several different fake accounts.
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In 2017, Citrus County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) High Tech Crimes Unit Sergeant Tiffany Barry received various tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and discovered all the messages came from the same I.P. address in Crystal River. Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) detectives began their investigation by finding multiple juveniles were contacted by Lynch and coerced to send sexually explicit photos and videos.
Detectives discovered Lynch threatened the minor victims by claiming he would send their explicit photos and messages to family or post them publicly if they didn’t continue talking to him. CCSO detectives then made contact with Lynch at his residence.
Lynch advised he had no social media accounts, including Facebook, and denied ever making fake accounts online.
In a later interview at CCSO’s Emergency Operations Center, it was found that an individual, previously a resident of Lynch’s home, had several of his old Facebook photos used on the fake accounts used to talk to the victims. These photos ranged from ones taken while the individual was only 15 years old, up to ones taken in his early twenties.
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The individual stated he did not know who would be using his photographs for messaging juveniles but said he would not communicate with someone who was under-aged.
Following this interview, CCSO’s case was adopted by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) who was also looking at Lynch for similar crimes. The FBI charged Lynch for the crimes he committed involving these minor victims.
“Yet another repulsive child predator has been taken off of our streets and put behind bars. The disgusting actions of Andrew Lynch show just how dangerous these perverted individuals can be, threatening several juveniles by using social media as a weapon,” said Sheriff Prendergast. “My team is dedicated to safeguarding our youth and will remain committed to apprehending predators like Lynch. Thank you to our persistent detectives, Captain Brian Spiddle, and our federal partners for their collaboration and tireless work in this case.”
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“If you suspect someone is committing crimes against our youth, call (352) 249-2790 to immediately report your suspicions to our office. Or download the Sheriff’s App (search Citrus County Sheriff’s Office) to use the Submit a tip’ feature to make a report instantly,” said CCSO.
CCSO App users can look up Sexual Offenders in their area by clicking on the Sexual Offenders’ feature, which will show a photo of the offender, their name, physical descriptors, address, and your approximate distance from their location.
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