Previously convicted child sex offender faces life in prison after pleading guilty to new charges of child sex abuse

On March 11 in a Jacksonville, Florida, federal courtroom, 37-year-old Andrew Thomas Bull, of Tolland, Connecticut, a.k.a. Andrew Thomas Picard, pleaded guilty to attempting to entice a child to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing photos of her own sexual abuse. Back in 2023, the ctpost reported thatBull, a previously convicted sex offender, also had been indicted on child pornography charges in Florida.

Bull was convicted of importation and illegal possession of child pornography in 2013 in Connecticut. On May 25, 2023, FBI agents arrested Bull at his home in Connecticut. He was later transported to Jacksonville for prosecution.

Background: On November 15, 2022, an FBI undercover agent (UC) in the Jacksonville area was conducting an online undercover operation to identify adults seeking to meet and engage in sexual activity with children. The UC posted a text message in a public chatroom on a social media application (app) indicating that the UC had access to an 11-year-old “child.” Later that same day, user “brdr1066,” subsequently identified as Bull, contacted the UC directly using the app’s private online text messaging feature.

Bull asked the UC to confirm the age and sexual experience of the “child.” Bull sent the UC explicit photos of himself to show to the “child.” During text conversations on the app between November 2022 and May 2023, Bull confirmed his desire to have sex with the “child,” and he sent the UC photos depicting young children being sexually abused. Bull solicited the UC to take and send to Bull explicit photos of the “child.”  ~ FBI

On May 25, 2023, FBI agents arrested Bull and executed a search warrant at his Connecticut residence. A search of Bull’s cellphone revealed that it contained, among other things, at least 15 videos and 40 photos depicting children being sexually abused, including an infant. 

Bull faces a minimum sentence of 25 years, up to 50 years, in federal prison and a possible lifetime term of supervised release. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 9, 2025. 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

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(Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Florida)

Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today
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