Platte County Man Pleads Guilty to Sexually Assaulting 3-Year-Old Victim to Produce, Distribute Child Porn

A Platte County man is facing at least 15 years in federal prison after pleading guilty Thursday to charges stemming from the sexual assault of a 3-year-old child to produce child pornography and the distribution of that material.

On Thursday 36-year-old Farley resident Andrew J. McCardie pleaded guilty in federal court to two counts of producing child pornography and one count of distributing child pornography. McCardie remains in federal custody without bond pending his sentencing hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.

McCardie communicated with individuals through the Kik application beginning in January 2022, using a screen name to indicate he was willing and able to produce child pornography and distribute to other persons. He reportedly produced 19 images and videos of child pornography involving a 3-year-old child victim on February 11 and 12, 2022, most of them were created live.

On March 5, 2022, McCardie created another live video during his sexual abuse of the child victim, be he was unknowingly communicating with an undercover law enforcement officer.

On March 6, 2022, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at McCardie’s residence. Initially McCardie resisted officers, initially holding a firearm as officers entered. He was brought out into the yard, where he continued to resist before being handcuffed and placed under arrest.

Investigators say McCardie’s Kik account included 218 images and videos of child pornography, had sent 58 separate videos and images of child pornography to other Kik users, and had received more than 200 images and videos of child pornography from other Kik users between January 2 and March 7, 2022.

Under federal statutes, he is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years, and up to 80 years in federal prison without parole.