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A 56-year-old nuclear physicist at one of the country’s top government research laboratories is behind bars on charges that he solicited underage girls for sex chats and explicit videos – at least one of which he scripted from beginning to end, including suggested camera angles and stage direction.
Andrew Worrall, Director nuclear energy program on Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the east TennesseeAccording to previously unreported court filings, child abuse allegations were eventually uncovered thanks to his ex-wife, who herself was contacted by Worrall, a teen he targeted on Snapchat.
ex-wife, whose name is Independent One of the documents, which is being withheld for privacy purposes, revealed that Worrall’s alleged fixation on minors contributed to the collapse of their relationship.
Oak Ridge was a major site manhattan projectThe top-secret World War II-era program that created the world’s first atomic bomb.
Worrall, who in 2021 Won the US Energy Secretary’s Achievement Award He was arrested on October 6 by agents of the Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General, for “addressing a major challenge in the security of nuclear materials”.
He is no longer working at Oak Ridge, facility spokeswoman Sarah Shoemaker said. IndependentIt is unclear whether Worrall is still employed by the U.S. Department of Energy, the entity that oversees the facility, which did not respond Friday to a request for comment.
In a series of text messages extracted from Worrall’s phone by federal investigators, he appeared to fantasize about spending the night with the young man, according to one criminal complaint Filed Oct. 3 in Knoxville federal court.
“Will you be able to sleep or not?” he allegedly asked the teen, who told Worrell she was just 16 years old.
“Yeah, I’ll just say I’m going to my friend’s house and then you can pick me up from there, and then you have to take me back there so my mom doesn’t find out,” she replied.
“I like it, so tell me… do you want me to be a gentle dad or a dominant dad?” Worrall reportedly continued.
,[I]It depends what you want[,] I like to be polite,” the girl replied.
According to the affidavit, Worrall told him, “Okay.” “Yes, I like to take control. Lead. Completely dominate.”
a related search warrant application recipient Independent It includes additional details related to the investigation, including the unexpected nexus between the teen and Worrall’s ex-wife, a nuclear nonproliferation researcher in Oak Ridge, which led to his arrest and indictment on October 15 on two felony counts: sexual exploitation of a child and solicitation.
The 52-page warrant application states that Worrall’s ex emailed Oak Ridge authorities July 14 after an 18-year-old boy. michigan The resident emailed the woman screenshots of a very candid conversation between the two. According to the warrant application, Worrall added the girl on Snapchat earlier this month and she told him she was only 16 years old.
The warrant application, which gave federal authorities access to Worrall’s electronic devices and any nearby “bags and containers”, does not specify why the teen felt compelled to seek out his ex-wife. However, it says the ex later forwarded the information he obtained from the teenage girl to Oak Ridge, along with a heartbreaking story about why she filed for divorce from Worrall in February 2020 after nearly half a decade of marriage.
Worrall, according to earlier emails, said, “What I interpreted (both through observation of physical behaviors such as the way he looked at and hugged her, reading text message exchanges, and through internal sensing of what was happening) was an unusual obsession with his young niece.”
Worrall’s niece was also 16 when he and his ex-wife were married in December 2013, the former wrote. She said he messaged her “repeatedly and sometimes multiple times a day”, exchanged selfies with the girl and communicated in “thin” ways.[ed] Sexual.”
According to the warrant application, when Worrall’s ex-wife confronted him about his “inappropriate” and “obsessive” ways with his niece, he insisted she was wrong and explained everything by claiming he was only “a father figure to her.”
A probable cause affidavit attached to the criminal complaint against Worrall says that a few days later, the teen sent screenshots of text exchanges she had with him to the Oak Ridge employee ethics email hotline.
“In the email, [the teen] The affidavit states that she and Worrall first began talking on Snapchat, adding that the girl was actually 18 but told Worrall she was just 16. [the teen]Worrall asked if she was younger because he thought she was ‘hot’. From there, they moved to Telegram and continued their discussion.
The affidavit said Worrall sent the messages to the girl from a number listed as his official contact in Oak Ridge, which was also linked to his government email address.
“You really don’t care that I’m 16?” The girl asked.
According to the affidavit, Worrall responded, “I like where you are.” “It’s a dream come true for me.”
DOE OIG special agents subpoenaed Worrall’s Snapchat records, and found that there were “communications of a sexual nature between multiple users who stated they were under the age of 18.”
In one, Worrall allegedly instructed a 17-year-old girl to send a topless photo of herself, then escalated the orders to an extremely graphic level, the affidavit says. Another 17-year-old boy told Worrall that he would have to pay her for such things, and he sent the girl $20. CashApp account in exchange for X-rated video footage.
When the girl asked Worrall to give her some tips, the affidavit says he eagerly “gave guidelines and helped when it came to how to dress, how to act and what to film.”
According to the affidavit, Worrall told the teen, “Here’s a script for the bathroom: The camera on the sink is pointing at the bath/shower.” “You’re taking off your tennis clothes like [you] Just reached home. Take off your clothes in front of the camera. Look at yourself in the mirror. Appreciate your body. Start bathing.”
From there things got a lot more illegal, the affidavit claims.
In another conversation with a different teen, Worrall reminisced about abusing his young niece, describing in graphic detail how he had abused her as a child, the affidavit said. According to the affidavit, she is now 30 years old.
The affidavit said investigators made short work of corroborating the allegations against Worrall, tracing the IP address she used to access Snapchat directly to her home in Farragut, a suburb of Farragut, population 25,000, about 20 miles from Knoxville.
following him arrestWorrall waived his right to a detention hearing and was jailed until his arraignment, scheduled for October 21.
Worrall faces possible sentencing if found guilty up to life imprisonment,
His defense lawyers did not respond to requests for comment Friday.