A Torrington man has pleaded guilty possession of child pornography, admitting to possessing more than 100 pornographic files featuring children.
Andrew Bryan Culligan, 35, pleaded guilty during a change of plea hearing on Jan. 18. Sentencing has been set for April 8 and he faces up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $22,000.
Culligan was arrested on Aug. 4 in Casper after being indicted by a federal grand jury on child pornography charges.
According to court documents, federal investigators received multiple cybertips from Google regarding an account that contained 102 files of child pornography on the company’s Google Drive and Google Photos system. Many of the files showed prepubescent girls engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
Investigators traced the IP address of the computer where the files were uploaded to a Torrington address. Google also provided information about one of the email addresses registered to the Google Drive/Photos account, which was tracked to Culligan.
During the investigation, it was discovered that Culligan is a registered sex offender who was convicted in 2013 of third-degree sexual abuse of a minor.
In April, a search of the home Culligan’s home was conducted and investigators interviewed Culligan’s girlfriend. She confirmed to police that Culligan did use one of the email accounts reported through the cybertips and that he was “protective” of the account.
Culligan was contacted while the search warrant was being executed, and while he confirmed one of the email accounts reported was his, he asked for a lawyer. Investigators then terminated the interview.
Based on his admission, Culligan was arrested on a state charge of child sexual exploitation and transported to the Goshen County Detention Center. He was formally charged in early April, but posted bond two days later.
Also according to the affidavit filed in U.S. District Court, in May, Culligan’s girlfriend took her 14-year-old daughter to the local emergency room to be examined for assault after finding a letter from Culligan to the girl.
In the letter, Culligan made sexual remarks to the girl and expressed a desire to impregnate her. The girl disclosed “multiple” incidents between Culligan and herself.
