Distributing child sex abuse images, videos leads to nearly 20-year federal prison sentence

An Indianapolis man has been sentenced to nearly 20 years in federal prison more than a year after prosecutors say they found over 3,000 images and videos depicting child sexual abuse on his phone.

Andrew Scott Whitaker Jr. also will have to serve 15 years of supervised release following prison and must pay a total of more than $47,000 in restitution to 15 victims, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana.

Whitaker was sentenced earlier this month after pleading guilty to distribution and possession of child sexual abuse material, the attorney’s office said Tuesday in a statement.

Investigators searched Whitaker’s phone in March 2025, a few months after he sent images and videos of child sexual abuse to several people using the social media messaging application Kik, prosecutors said.

The phone contained about 2,279 images and 1,109 video files depicting the abuse, according to the attorney’s office.

The 30-year-old Whitaker was arrested in 2024 while he was on federal supervised release after a 2021 conviction for possession of and access with intent to view child sexual abuse material.

Tom Wheeler, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, said in a statement that people who commit these crimes online “should know that we will identify you, we will find you, and we will hold you accountable.”

The U.S. Secret Service and Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department investigated the case, as did the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.