Youngstown man gets more than 21 years in prison for forcing juvenile to record sex acts

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — A Youngstown man will spend more than 21 years in prison after he used threats to force a juvenile to record sex acts, including with another juvenile, prosecutors say.

Andrew Samuel Davis Strickland, 27, also will be under 10 years of supervised release once he gets out of prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio. Strickland was sentenced by federal Judge Patricia Gaughan after he pleaded guilty sexual exploitation of a child.

”Coercing and threatening children through social media and further, the sexual exploitation of a child, is callous and repulsive,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Eric Smith said in a statement.

Authorities began investigating Strickland in 2019 after they were told that he had coerced two minors into filming a sexual encounter between both of them, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. The investigation showed Strickland met one of the victims through Facebook and coerced the victim into sending him sexually explicit images.

After receiving the images, Strickland threatened to send them to members of the victim’s family if the victim did not give in to Strickland’s demands, authorities say. Strickland also coerced the victim into filming a sexual encounter with another minor.

The victim complied with Strickland out of fear that he would harm the victim or the victim’s family members, authorities say. Strickland did send a recording to members of the first victim’s family.

The U.S. attorney’s office did not release the age or genders of the victims in the case.