Andi Mack Actor Arrested and Fired for Pedophilia
January 2, 2019
For those who are unfamiliar, Andi Mack is a Disney Channel sitcom revolving around a young teen named Andi Mack who’s trying to navigate life after learning that her “sister” is actually her mother. The show, currently on hiatus during its 3rd season, is known for Disney Channel’s first gay character, as well as for tackling serious issues, such as gun violence. Fans of the show are very hopeful that Disney will renew it for a 4th season: a movement which certainly wasn’t helped by the recent arrest of actor Stoney Westmoreland, 48, who played Andi’s grandfather on the show.
Westmoreland was arrested in Salt Lake City, Utah on Friday, December 14 and charged for attempting to have sex with who he believed was a 13 year old boy. This “boy” was an undercover cop posing as a child on a dating app where Westmoreland found him. On this app, the actor sent the “boy” explicit photos of himself and asked for some in return. He then arranged to meet up and have sex with said boy. Fortunately, Westmoreland wasn’t actually meeting up with a 13 year old boy, but instead with the Salt Lake City Police and the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force who would arrest him. According to police records, he received six felony charges including one count of enticing a minor, four counts of dealing harmful material to a minor and one count of attempted sexual exploitation of a minor. This situation is especially concerning considering he has been working on set with minors for a while now.
Unsurprisingly, Disney fired him not long after the arrest. A Disney spokesperson said after the arrest,“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 which wraps production on its third season next week.”
As of now, no one really knows what Stoney Westmoreland’s arrest means for the show as a whole. Will his character be replaced by a different actor? Will Disney perhaps kill off his character leading to a storyline revolving death and mourning? Fans are theorizing possible routes for the show to go in and hoping that this situation won’t affect Disney’s decision on whether to renew the show or not. Only time will tell.
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