Source: US FBI
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – On August 14, 2025, Andrew John Paolini, 64, of Gallatin, Tennessee, was sentenced to 151 months imprisonment by the Honorable Katherine A. Crytzer, United States District Judge, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville. Following his imprisonment, he will be on lifetime supervised release, and he will be required to register with state sex offender registries and to comply with special sex offender conditions.
As part of the plea agreement filed with the court, Paolini agreed to plead guilty to an indictment charging him with one count of Attempted Enticement of a Minor to Engage in Statutory Rape as defined in Tennessee Code Annotated Section 39-13-506(c), in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b).
According to court filed documents, in late October 2024, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents began an undercover investigation online in public chat areas known to be trafficked by purveyors of child sexual abuse material. This investigation led to communications with an online user, later identified as Paolini, attempting to entice who he believed to be a thirteen (13) year old girl for sex. Federal agents arrested Paolini in November of 2024, after Paolini arrived at an arranged meeting location with whom he believed to be his underaged victim.
U.S. Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III, of the Eastern District of Tennessee and Special Agent in Charge Joseph E. Carrico of the FBI made the announcement.
The criminal indictment was the result of an investigation by the FBI, led by Special Agent Mike Carter.
Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Kolman represented the United States.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), 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 Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC 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 PSC, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc/resources.html and click on the tab “resources.”
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