Weld County Man Gets 236 Years for Assaulting Girl, 9, Over Reluctance to Go to School

A Weld County judge sentenced 41-year-old Joshua Andrews to 236 years to life in prison for sexually assaulting a young girl on multiple occasions, closing out a case that began when the girl's mother noticed something was wrong on Thursdays. Andrews was convicted in June on twelve counts of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust as part of a pattern of sexual abuse.

The case dates back to January 2024, when the Weld County Sheriff's Office was notified of a sexual assault involving a 9-year-old girl, according to the sheriff's office. As reported by CBS Colorado, the girl's mother had noticed her daughter had become reluctant to go to school on Thursdays, a pattern that preceded the girl indicating that Andrews had sexually assaulted her, per the sheriff's office account cited in the outlet's reporting.

Prosecutors Vow to Keep Pursuing Child Predators

Chief Deputy District Attorney Arynn Clark, who leads Weld County's Special Victims Unit, said prosecutors will continue to protect children and seek justice using every available tool. Clark added that people who prey on Weld County's children will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and said there is no place in the community for adults who abuse children.

Clark was appointed to head the specialized unit prosecuting child abuse and sexual assault cases in January 2024 by District Attorney Michael Rourke, according to the Weld County District Attorney's Office. Rourke has led the 19th Judicial District Attorney's Office since 2015 and was sworn in for his final term in January 2025, after first being appointed by the governor before winning election.

How Colorado Law Produced a Multi-Century Sentence

The staggering length of Andrews' sentence stems from Colorado's Sex Offender Indeterminate Sentencing Act, which mandates indeterminate prison terms up to natural life for anyone convicted of sexually assaulting a child while serving in a position of trust. Under Colorado Revised Statutes § 18-3-405.3 and § 18-1.3-1004, that indeterminate structure applies to each count, according to a summary from BillTrack50.

A position of trust applies to adults acting as caretakers or guardians responsible for a child's health and safety, and charging a pattern of abuse elevates child sexual assault to a Class 3 felony when sexual contact occurred on multiple occasions, per the Sawyer Legal Group. Because prosecutors charged Andrews with twelve separate counts, each carrying its own indeterminate life maximum, the judge was able to stack the terms consecutively into a 236-year-to-life total.

Part of a Broader Weld County Pattern

Andrews' sentence is the latest in a string of century-plus prison terms Weld County has secured against people convicted of child sex crimes. The district attorney's office has previously touted an 82-year-to-life sentence for a former Mead coach in January and a 248-year sentence for a human trafficker in 2016, both prosecuted under the office's push for maximum penalties.

Earlier this year, a Weld County judge sentenced Florida resident Joel Kaufman to 156 years to life after his conviction on 36 counts tied to child sexual exploitation and enticement, a case Hoodline covered in March. In July 2025, prosecutors also secured a 99-year-to-life sentence against repeat offender Damaige Plascencia, bringing his cumulative sentences across three separate Weld County trials to 145 years to life, according to the district attorney's office.

Other recent Weld County cases have targeted people in positions of trust over children, including a Fort Lupton church nursery supervisor arrested in March on 25 counts of sexual assault on a child, and a former Greeley IT worker sentenced this month to 14 years for stealing child sexual abuse material from police evidence drives. In Colorado, child safety and body-autonomy education is built into public school health standards, and concerns raised during or after such lessons are often reported through systems like Safe2Tell, which frequently trigger law enforcement investigations statewide.