Burlington Man Charged With Sexual Exploitation, Peeping Involving Teen Girl

Andrew Paul Diana, 43, of Burlington secretly recorded a sexual encounter with a 16-year-old girl before his arrest by the Burlington Police Department on April 2, court documents show. He now faces one of the most serious collections of charges in a local child sex crimes case in recent memory.

Diana's charges span multiple statutes: secret peeping, disseminating obscenity, second- and third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree forcible sex offense, and several counts tied to possessing and distributing images obtained through the peeping. He is being held at the Alamance County Detention Center without bond.

The charge profile carries severe potential consequences under North Carolina law. Second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, which covers recording, photographing, or distributing material depicting a minor engaged in sexual activity, is a Class E felony under N.C.G.S. § 14-190.17, carrying a possible sentence of 15 to 31 months. Third-degree sexual exploitation, covering possession of such material, is a Class H felony under N.C.G.S. § 14-190.17A with a maximum sentence of 39 months. Under N.C.G.S. § 14-202, a second or subsequent peeping conviction also triggers a court requirement to consider mandatory sex offender registration. Notably, mistake of age is explicitly not a defense under the exploitation statutes.

Burlington Police said the investigation remains ongoing but that there is no threat to the broader community.

The arrest comes roughly five months after Alamance County law enforcement conducted one of the area's largest coordinated child exploitation operations. Operation Ghost Wire, run by the Alamance County Sheriff's Office Invictus Task Force from October 13 to 24, 2024, spanned Alamance, Randolph, and Forsyth counties, produced 23 arrests, and rescued four children from ongoing abuse. Fourteen of the 18 Alamance County arrests in that operation involved local residents, and at least one registered sex offender was among those taken into custody. Officers in that case posed as 12- to 14-year-old children while combining cyber tip investigations with proactive undercover work.

Anyone with information related to the Diana investigation can contact the Burlington Police Department at (336) 229-3500 or submit an anonymous tip to Alamance County-Wide Crimestoppers at (336) 229-7100.