A Central Florida man active in his church was arrested for 76 counts of possession of child pornography, according to local law enforcement.
Polk County Sheriff’s Office Cyber Crimes detectives recently arrested 39-year-old Andrew “Drew” McGaffigan, of Auburndale, last month and charged him with 30 counts of child pornography, later in December added 46 more counts after further investigation of his electronic devices. He was incarcerated since his original arrest and though his original bond amount was set at $300,000 ($10,000 per charge), he was later being held on no bond.
The Central Florida investigation began upon receipt of several NCMEC cybertips (National Center for Missing and Endangered Children) regarding child pornography files being uploaded by McGaffigan.
The Auburndale Police Department also received NCMEC tips and collaborated with the PCSO to have local detectives take over the investigation.
According to law enforcement, the tips indicated that multiple files were being uploaded to McGaffigan’s cloud storage from his mobile device. Detectives served an electronic search warrant on the account and located 30 files of children between the ages of 9 months old and 12 years old being sexually abused. The babies and children were not identified as anyone McGaffigan has access to in his life.
An arrest warrant was issued, and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office placed McGaffigan under arrest at his place of employment in Plant City. He was later transferred to the Polk County Jail.
Upon his arrest, McGaffigan’s cell phone and electronic devices were seized and a forensic examination ensued. That’s where detectives located an additional 46 images and videos depicting child sexual abuse material. The victims in the digital files ranged in age from 6 months old to approximately 9 years old.
According to PCSO, one video file was located that depicted a 5-year-old female child being forced to engage in sexual bestiality with a dog – she is blindfolded with her hands tied above her head. Some of the files contained captions advocating for the legalization of pedophilia and encouraging others to engage in the sexual abuse of babies and children.
Law enforcement said that McGaffigan is actively involved with the First Baptist Church of Auburndale.
“This suspect is the worst of the worst,” said Sheriff Grady Judd at the time of arrest. “Here is a married man with children of his own advocating for the sexual abuse of babies and children. He’s also active in his local church. We will continue our thorough investigation to determine whether or not he has abused any child to whom he has access.”
