UPDATE (4:00 P.M.) – A defense attorney on Andrew Armstrong’s behalf filed for an extension of his pre-trial hearing in the 241st District Court on Wednesday.
After no objection from the prosecution, Judge Jack Skeen granted the request.
His pre-trial hearing is now set for Thursday, October 24 at 10:30 a.m.
Armstrong is accused of selling child pornography through his Facebook account. He was arrested after a year-long investigation by Tyler police.
As Armstrong was led out of court, he waved to his mother and appeared to tell him that he loved her.
TYLER, Texas (KETK) – A Tyler man who allegedly confessed to police that he sold child porn over Facebook will make his first court appearance on Wednesday afternoon.
Andrew Armstrong, 27, will appear before 241st District Judge Jack Skeen at 1:30 p.m. He is accused of selling child porn over Facebook after a year-long investigation was conducted by the Tyler Police Department.
The first clue was received on April 30, 2018, when the Dallas PD’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force forwarded a tip from a Facebook representative that showed a conversation on Armstrong’s account back on January 20.
The conversation was with a user by the name of “Kodiak Johnson” and said the following:
Johnson: “Preteen?”
Armstrong: “Ok”
Johnson: “All I have.”
Armstrong then uploaded multiple images of child pornography, according to Tyler police. One of them included a girl, aged 8-12.
Months later, on New Year’s Eve, another tip came in that a child pornographic image was uploaded to a phone that was registered to Andrew Armstrong. This tip also included an email address that was linked to Armstrong.
He was interviewed by Tyler detectives where he allegedly confessed that he had a child porn addiction and had been viewing it since he was 20. Armstrong also said that his family had an intervention with him in the past.
Armstrong also denied that he ever sexually assaulted young girls. An examination of his cell phone found that Armstrong had made online searches about information for how child porn police investigations are run.
Armstrong is currently being held in the Smith County Jail on a $200,000 bond. He has no prior criminal history or arrests.
