A former United States Coast Guard serviceman was sentenced on Tuesday, April 12, 2016, to 235 months in prison by United States District Judge Jose E. Martinez for producing child pornography.
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Rear Admiral Scott Buschman, United States Coast Guard Seventh District, and Thomas E. Robarge, Special Agent in Charge, United States Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS) Southeast Region, made the announcement.
Drew Alexander Young, 24, of Key West, previously pled guilty to one count of production of visual depictions of sexual exploitation of minors.
According to court documents and information disclosed during the court proceedings, CGIS investigators executed a military search authorization and searched Young’s Samsung Galaxy S5 cellular telephone as part of a sexual harassment investigation.
Investigators found over twenty video files containing suspected child pornography in Young’s phone. Investigators also discovered a number of sexually explicit Kik Messenger chats between the defendant and girls as young as thirteen-years-old.
Kik Messenger is a web-based instant messaging application.
During their review of the Kik Messenger chats, investigators discovered chats in which Young repeatedly solicited and received sexually explicit pictures of the minor girls.
