City Of Margate Police Officer Charged With Soliciting A Minor For Visual Depictions Of Sexually Explicit Conduct

Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announces the arrest and charging by criminal complaint of Andrew Christian Hammock (46, Boca Raton) with soliciting visual depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. If convicted, Hammock faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years, and up to, 30 years in federal prison and a potential life term of supervised release.

According to the complaint, Hammock was employed by the Margate Police Department as a police officer. From February 14 through March 17, 2020, Hammock engaged in chats using a social media application with whom he believed to be a 14-year-old female child. Hammock solicited the child to produce and send him child pornography on multiple occasions and indicated his desire to engage in sexual conduct with the “child,” who was actually an undercover FBI agent. Hammock was arrested at the City of Margate Police Department on March 17, 2020.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (Jacksonville Office), with assistance from the Margate Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kelly S. Karase.

It is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”