110 years for sexual abuse of children

LUFKIN, Texas (KETK) – A Huntington man was sentenced to a total of 110 years in prison on Thursday after he was found guilty of sexually abusing three young children over a span of several years.

According to a statement from Angelina County District Attorney Amy Wren and our news partner KETK, the first two victims in this case where helped by another child to tell their mother and their aunt about inappropriate behavior from Andrew Jacob Shortt, 30 of Huntington, in the year 2012.

“The victims were instructed by their mother not to tell their father and also, that ‘what happens between these four white walls, stays between these four white walls’. Shortt then
moved into the victims’ home and began sexually abusing them more frequently, perpetrating acts that constituted aggravated sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child on a regular basis,” Wren’s statement explained.

Three years later in 2015, the victims were able to report Shortt’s abuse of them to their father and the Angelina County Sheriff’s Office. Shortt was arrested that summer but the charges were dropped in 2016 after the victims’ family intervened.

Wren stated that the first two victims didn’t learn that the charges against Shortt were dropped until 2017, at which point they decided to alert their school resource officer about Shortt’s abusive behavior and their mother’s intervention in the case.

Shortt was then arrested again in October of 2017 but bonded out. Wren explained that Shortt allegedly started sexually abusing a third young family member in 2023, while he was out on bond.

“This case illustrates the common experience of survivors of child sexual abuse; however, it is the sincere hope of the Angelina County District Attorney’s Office that this verdict and sentence empower survivors of child sexual abuse to come forward if they have not, and to continue in the pursuit of justice if they have – no matter how long it may take,” Wren wrote in a press release. “The victims in this case were not only sexually abused by Shortt, but were also victims of family dynamics that impeded, and for a time prevented, the detection and prosecution of the continuous sexual abuse that they were experiencing. Their resilience and steadfast adherence to doing the right thing ensured justice was done and that Shortt will never have the opportunity to abuse another child.”

Angelina County court records show that Shortt was sentenced to 70 years in state prison for continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14 and four 10 year sentences for four charges of indecency with a child.

According to Wren, Judge Todd Kassaw of the 159th Judicial District Court ordered that all of Shortt’s sentences will be served back to back.