Convicted Sex Offender Sentenced to 94 Months in Prison For Sexually Abusing a Child While Failing to Register as a Sex Offender

            WASHINGTON – Andre Hammond, 35, of Washington, D.C., has been sentenced to 94 months in prison for sexually abusing a female child and committing a crime of violence while failing to register as a sex offender, announced U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips and Michael Hughes, U.S. Marshal for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

            Hammond pled guilty in September 2014, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, to one count of failure to register as a sex offender and one count of commission of a crime of violence while failing to register as a sex offender, in violation of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).  He also pled guilty to one count of second-degree child sexual abuse.  He was sentenced on June 21, 2016, by the Honorable Ketanji Brown Jackson. Following his prison term, Hammond will be placed on 20 years of supervised release.

            Hammond has one prior misdemeanor conviction, in 2009, in the District of Columbia for a sex offense involving a different minor female victim, which requires him to register as a sex offender.  According to the government’s evidence, he initially registered in the District of Columbia but soon moved to Maryland and did not register his new address with the District of Columbia Sex Offender Registry or with any Maryland registry. In 2011, Hammond moved from Maryland back to the District, but continued to falsely register a District of Columbia address where he was not actually residing. While failing to properly register as a sex offender in the District of Columbia, Hammond then committed a new sex offense involving a child who he repeatedly molested over the course of almost four years. He was arrested in October 2013.

            As part of an overall strategy to combat child exploitation, the U.S. Marshals Service launched a nationwide operation to target sex offenders who violate SORNA by knowingly failing to comply with their sex offender registration requirements.  SORNA is part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006.  The Adam Walsh Act also provides for the use of federal law enforcement resources, including the U.S. Marshals Service, to assist states in locating and apprehending non-compliant sex offenders.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Phillips and U.S. Marshal Hughes praised the work of Senior Inspector Floriano Whitwell and other members of the D.C. Superior Court Sex Offender Investigations Section of the U.S. Marshals Service, who investigated the case. They also expressed appreciation for the work of those who handled the case at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Donhue Troy Griffith, Victim/Witness Advocate Elsa Maltese, Forensic Child Interviewer Karen Giannakoulias, and Criminal Investigator John Marsh.  Finally, they commended the work of former Assistant U.S. Attorney Heide Herrmann and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah McClellan, who prosecuted the case.