A former Disney actor will spend two years in federal prison for allegedly enticing a minor to have sex.
Stoney Westmoreland communicated with an undercover officer using Grindr, a gay dating app. He was later arrested in 2018 after trying to meet the investigator who was posing as a 13-year-old teenager.
Authorities said Westmoreland tried to meet the apparent underage boy for sex by using a ride-sharing app to order the boy a car to the Little America Hotel.
After ordering the ride share for the minor, he was taken into custody by the Salt Lake City Police Department and FBI Child Exploitation Task Force.
According to police, he admitted to sending nude photos, and the victim he was speaking with told him he was 13 years old.
Westmoreland, who played grandfather ‘Ham’ on Disney’s hit series Andy Mack, took a plea deal with the prosecution and will spend 24 months behind bars. He will have ten years of supervised release following jail time and is required to comply with DNA collection and must register as a sex offender, TMZ reported.
Disney fired Westmoreland in December 2018, the same day he was arrested.
In a statement at the time Westmoreland was fired, Disney said, “Given the nature of the charges and our responsibility for the welfare of employed minors, we have released him from his recurring role, and he will not be returning to work on the series.”