Tulare County Man Pleads Guilty to Failing to Register as a Sex Offender

FRESNO, Calif. — Andras Daniel Lee, 33, of Visalia, pleaded guilty today to failure to register as a sex offender, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, in March 2017, Lee was convicted in Tulare County of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. Shortly after his release from prison, Lee moved to Liberal, Kansas. In March 2018, Lee moved back to California and intentionally did not register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) as was required as a result of his prior conviction for unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.

On Feb. 20, 2020, Lee committed a lewd act upon a child in Tulare County while in a failure to register status. On Dec. 20, 2021, Lee was convicted of two counts of committing a lewd act upon a child.

The case is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Marshals Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Antonio J. Pataca is prosecuting the case.

Lee is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ana de Alba on Feb. 6, 2023. Lee faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

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 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.