A Veterans Way mother and her boyfriend, accused of raping and posting pornographic photographs of her 8-year-old daughter online in 2004, have pleaded guilty to federal child exploitation charges and face mandatory minimum sentences of 15 years in prison.
Kendra D'Andrea and Willie Jordan, a trucker who lived at her home part time, still face charges of rape and distributing obscene materials in Essex County Superior Court, stemming from an investigation of explicit photos posted on a password-protected Web site.
Jordan pleaded guilty to federal charges of production of child pornography and conspiracy to produce child pornography in February. D'Andrea, who has been free on bail, pleaded guilty to the same federal charges two weeks ago.
Jordan is scheduled to be sentenced July 10 on the federal charges and D'Andrea is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 23. The mandatory minimum sentence is 15 years, up to a maximum of 30 years.
D'Andrea, 33, was arrested around midnight Dec. 3, 2004, when Gloucester police raided her apartment at 90 Veterans Way after the state Department of Social Services received an anonymous tip that a girl was being abused there and gained access to the Web site with photos of that girl.
According to police, D'Andrea confessed that night to sexually abusing and taking nude photos of her daughter with a cell phone camera and posting them online so Jordan could view them while he was on the road. The alleged victim and her 3-year-old sister were taken into protective custody by the Department of Social Services after D'Andrea's arrest and then placed in foster care.
Jordan, 35, who was driving a long-haul truck at the time, was arrested two days later around 20 miles west of Detroit.
While awaiting trial in Superior Court, D'Andrea and Jordan were indicted in U.S. District Court in Boston on March 2006 on the charges of production of child pornography and conspiracy to produce child pornography. In August, 2007, a judge rejected the couple's motion to have evidence from the Gloucester police investigation thrown out, prompting their pleas.
D'Andrea and Jordan have each filed motions reserving their right to appeal the case on the grounds that the Department of Social Services illegally accessed the password-protected Web site where it found the photos.
Stephen O'Connell, a spokesman for Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett, said yesterday that the federal case would have no impact on the Superior Court case, where D'Andrea and Jordan each face charges of rape of a child and distribution of obscene matter.
According to the Superior Court indictment, sexual abuse of D'Andrea's daughter began as early as June 2004 and continued through the week of Nov. 28. D'Andrea and Jordan took turns sexually assaulting the victim and taking photos with a cell phone camera for upload to a Sprint PCS Web site, the indictment said.
A trial date for the Superior Court case has not yet been set. O'Connell said the next scheduled court appearance for the couple would be a status hearing on July 22.
Patrick Anderson can be reached at panderson@gloucestertimes.com.
