Andrew Carroll, a 30-year-old West Tisbury resident, was arrested on September 16 at his Skiff Avenue home for possessing child pornography.
In this case, the trigger was a CyberTipline report (CTR) forwarded by Snapchat on June 8. The report flagged two files sent to Carroll’s account containing what State Trooper Ian Andrade described as “lewd and lascivious content.” This is not a voluntary act of corporate citizenship; federal law mandates that platforms report suspected child sexual abuse material (CSAM) to NCMEC, which then routes the data to the appropriate jurisdictional authorities.
Snapchat metadata triggers State Police surveillance
Once the CTR entered the system, the State Police Cyber Crime Unit moved from digital flagging to physical identification. Trooper Andrade subpoenaed Carroll’s phone and IP address records to pin the account to a specific physical location. This process—mapping a virtual identity to a residential address—was supplemented by physical surveillance of the Skiff Avenue residence.
By September 16, Clerk Magistrate Robert Manning approved a search warrant. The execution of that warrant involved a coordinated effort between the State Police Cyber Crime Unit, the Crime Scene Services Section, the STOP team, and the West Tisbury Police Department.
Hidden folders and the post-Miranda interview
The technical evidence was secured during a “post-Miranda” interview conducted in Carroll’s basement. According to the police report, Carroll cooperated with investigators, handed over his electronic devices, and admitted ownership of the Snapchat account in question.
Carroll claimed he believed the individual he was communicating with on Snapchat was 20 years old. He told police he recognized the material as CSAM and subsequently blocked the user. However, forensic analysis of his iPhone revealed a contradiction to the claim of avoidance: officers discovered that Carroll had saved all the files to a hidden folder on the device.
The search of the hidden folder uncovered more than the images flagged in the initial CTR; police found a video depicting the rape of a prepubescent female by an adult male.
The defendant’s mental health claims
During the interrogation, Carroll stated he was not sexually attracted to minors. Trooper Andrade noted in the report that Carroll became emotional during the interview and stated he had been dealing with mental health issues recently.
Court mandates and the November 12 hearing
Carroll appeared in Edgartown Courthouse on September 17 and pleaded not guilty to the felony charge of possessing child pornography. Judge Benjamin C. Barnes initially set bail at $250,000 surety or $25,000 cash.
Carroll posted the $25,000 cash bail and was released under specific court-ordered conditions:
- No unsupervised contact with any person under the age of 17.
- A strict stay-away order from the location where the arrest occurred.
The legal process continues with a pretrial hearing scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on November 12.
