FORMER NUCLEAR PROGRAMS DIRECTOR AT O.R.N.L. ARRESTED FOR CHILD SEX CRIMES
Andrew Worrall, the 56-year-old former Director of Nuclear Energy Programs at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been arrested on charges of attempted coercion and enticement, sex trafficking of a child, and exploitation of a child for producing child pornography.
The investigation began earlier this year when an 18-year-old woman submitted screenshots of explicit text conversations to ORNL’s ethics hotline, in which she informed Worrall she was 16 and he discussed meeting her and making travel arrangements using his official lab phone number.
Further review of a Snapchat account linked to Worrall’s home in Farragut revealed sexually explicit messages with multiple users who identified as under 18, including one underage girl who received $20 from him in exchange for explicit images and videos, as confirmed by her driver’s permit.
Worrall, a British national and recipient of the 2021 Secretary of Energy’s Achievement Award and Lancaster University’s Outstanding Alumni Award, is no longer employed at the Department of Energy’s largest national lab.
