Gamer, 47, released to care of mother
A Coeur d’Alene man who solicited sex from an Ohio 14-year-old he met online while playing Call of Duty was released from jail to await sentencing for one felony count of injury to a child.
Andrew J. Collinsworth, 47, was released Monday on his own recognizance after spending almost eight months in custody.
The court ordered Collinsworth to live with his mother while awaiting sentencing. He’s prohibited from all online activity.
Collinsworth pleaded guilty to the felony earlier this month as part of a plea agreement. He originally had been charged with a second felony charge of engaging a child with sexually exploitative material. Each felony carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence.
Police said Collinsworth, an active gamer who lives with his mother on Lacrosse Avenue, last year played Call of Duty with a Warren, Ohio, teenager and asked her to send him a picture of her vagina. The teen obliged, and Collinsworth and the girl exchanged sexually explicit photographs.
Collinsworth began using a cellphone after his mother told him not to converse with young girls, and the teen and 47-year-old engaged in a long-distance, online sexual relationship for several months, until the teenager’s stepmother notified Coeur d’Alene Police last autumn.
The teenager and her brother, according to a police report, began harassing Collinsworth after the relationship came to light.
Collinsworth was arrested in October. After a mental evaluation, he was deemed not fit to proceed with court hearings.
He was committed to the Department of Health and Welfare from Jan. 9 until May 6, when he was once again considered competent, according to court records.
After Collinsworth pleaded guilty to one felony, his attorneys asked that their client be allowed to go back to his mother’s house until sentencing. First District Judge Scott Wayman refused the request until Collinsworth’s mother agreed to shutting off internet and cable service to the residence.
“I really want the mom here,” Wayman said.
The judge ordered the release this week after meeting with Collinsworth’s mother.
Sentencing is set for Aug. 6 in Coeur d’Alene.