Disney Channel Actor Gets 2 Years in Prison for Allegedly Enticing Minor for Sex
Disney Channel actor Stoney Westmoreland was sentenced to two years in federal prison after taking a plea deal for allegedly trying to arrange sex with a minor. Westmoreland, who played Andi Mack's grandfather on the Disney Channel series Andi Mack, was arrested in 2018 and pleaded guilty to a lesser charge to avoid a potential 10-year prison sentence. Disney fired Westmoreland after his arrest.
Westmoreland pleaded guilty to using interstate facilities to transmit information about a minor, TMZ reported Sunday. A judge sentenced him to 24 months in prison and 10 years of supervised release. He also needs to register as a sex offender and must submit a DNA sample. Westmoreland will also have to submit his computer devices for random searches by authorities. He also has to report his social media pages and other online accounts. He is also barred from contacting anyone under 18 years old without adult supervision.
His lawyer, Wendy Lewis, told TMZ he was originally charged with enticement of a minor over the Internet. He could have faced a decade in prison if he had been convicted on that charge. The actor was arrested in Utah in 2018. Authorities said he used the dating app Grindr to communicate with a person who was only 13 years old. He allegedly arranged to have sex with the minor, who was an undercover police officer. A doctor later evaluated Westmoreland and concluded the actor thought the exchange was roleplay and he did not believe the person was 13, Lewis said.
Westmoreland starred in the acclaimed Disney Channel series Andi Mack, which was one of the highest-rated shows for children when it aired between 2017 and 2019. The show featured the first openly gay lead character on the Disney Channel, Cyrus Goodman, played by Joshua Rush. Peyton Elizabeth Lee played the title character, with Westmoreland as her grandfather. Disney fired Westmoreland after his arrest and edited out his scenes from Season 3. The only Andi Mack episodes available to stream on Disney+ are those without Westmoreland, meaning just two episodes from Season 1 are there.
Westmoreland starred in episodes of Scandal, NewsRadio, Seven Days, Star Trek: Voyager, Providence, Gilmore Girls, CSI: Miami, NCIS, Breaking Bad, Supernatural, NCIS: Los Angeles, and SWAT. He also appeared in a handful of movies, including the 1998 Godzilla film, World Trade Center, Viral, and War Dogs.