O’Fallon, Missouri Man Admits Child Sex Charges

ST. LOUIS - A man from O'Fallon, Missouri on Wednesday admitted engaging in sexual activity with a 15-year-old that he met online and discussing child sex with another 15-year-old victim.

Andrew Haller, 34, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to all of the charges he faced: two counts of coercion and enticement of a minor, one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of receipt of child pornography.

Haller admitted separately meeting two 15-year-old girls on Tumblr before moving their conversations to the encrypted app Telegram.

The 15-year-old California victim told the FBI that Haller introduced the topic of "daddy dom," and told her he was also sexually abusing another teen. Haller listed rules for the victim, including that she would have to ask his permission once a day to urinate, wear a collar at all times, and refer to him only as "Sir," Dad" or "Daddy." He also asked her for nude photos and sent her photos and videos of the other victim.

After identifying Haller and performing a court-approved search of his home in November of 2023, the FBI identified the other victim. She told the FBI that she sent Haller sexually explicit photos at his direction. They met in person twice in 2023 and engaged in sexual activity. Haller struck her during the first visit and took pictures and videos of her, his plea says. He also discussed with her his desire to abuse children too young to talk or remember the abuse.

Haller possessed 195 images and 92 videos of known or suspected child sexual abuse material, and sent that material to others via Telegram and Signal, another encrypted app, his plea says.

Haller is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 28, 2025. The coercion charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and the child pornography charges each carry a five-year mandatory minimum sentence. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hayes has agreed as part of the plea to ask for no more than 25 years in prison.

The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hayes is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.