WORTHINGTON, OH—An illegal alien from Jamaica who volunteered as a religion teacher and youth minister at the Worthington Adventist Academy and Worthington Seventh-Day Adventist Church Ohio has been sentenced to more than 13 years in federal prison for serious child pornography offenses, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Andrew Brown, 51, of Columbus, was sentenced on March 12, 2026, to 160 months (13 years and 4 months) in prison by U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr.
Brown pleaded guilty in March 2025 to charges of distributing, receiving, and possessing child pornography.
Brown amassed an enormous collection of child sexual abuse material, totaling 15 terabytes across multiple devices. Between October 2023 and April 2024 alone, he possessed more than 40,000 files depicting minors engaged in sex acts.
The investigation began when Brown's IP address was identified by the Franklin County Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force as the most active in Ohio for downloading child pornography via peer-to-peer software. Further scrutiny showed that the IP address associated with Worthington Adventist Academy and Worthington Seventh-Day Adventist Church—where Brown volunteered as a teacher and youth minister—ranked as the third most active in the state for similar activity.
Evidence indicated he used computers at the school and church to access and download the material.
U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II commented on the case:
“This defendant, who overstayed his visa in the United States, was such a prolific perpetrator that when agents arrived at his apartment to execute a search warrant, he was at his computer actively downloading and exchanging images and videos of children being sexually abused, including child pornography depicting infants and toddlers.
Adding to the alarm, Brown placed himself in a position of trust with children as a religion teacher and youth minister. Our children are safer with Brown serving this significant term of imprisonment.”
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Czerniejewski and is part of Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative to combat child sexual exploitation through coordinated federal, state, and local efforts. The investigation involved the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office ICAC Task Force, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and other partners.
SDA’s and Illegal Immigration
There is a notable irony in the timing and context of this case, given the North American Division (NAD) of the Seventh-day Adventist Church's public positions on immigration. The NAD has issued statements emphasizing compassion, human dignity, and fair treatment for immigrants, including concerns about policies that create fear among undocumented individuals (often referred to as "undocumented immigrants" rather than "illegal aliens" in their language). For example, in a January 2025 appeal titled "An Appeal for Human Dignity and Decency," the NAD affirmed support for the rights of all people regardless of origin, condemned policies making illegal immigrants afraid to attend church or school due to deportation risks, and called on Adventist congregations to be “welcoming spaces.” The NAD doubled down on this statement on January 27, 2026 on their Facebook page:
Similar sentiments appear in the Lake Union Conference, who express solidarity with illegal immigrant members facing deportation. They have afirmed that undocumented status isn't inherently criminal in a moral sense, and urge humane responses rooted in “compassion.” See Adventist Review article.
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“Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:14).
