Disney actor Stoney Westmoreland has been arrested on Thursday after an attempted sexual liaison with a minor. He is known for his role as the grandfather on Andi Mack, a Disney show about a 13-year old girl and her life in middle school.
The show has made history as the first show on the Disney channel to feature an openly gay character and is popular amongst middle school aged girls. Peyton Elizabeth Lee, who plays Andi Mack, also is half Chinese, making the show even more unique with its focus on an Asian-American girl. However, after Westmoreland’s arrest, the show’s future is unclear.
According to Fox 13, Westmoreland was using a dating app used for “dating and meeting people for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity” to attempt a meet-up with a person who he believed to be 13 years old. An affidavit of probable cause that was presented in Third District Court revealed that Westmoreland had also sent the person multiple photos of a pornographic nature as well as asked the person to send nude photos back and to engage in sexual intercourse with him. Additionally, the affidavit claimed that he used a rideshare service to reach a specific location in Salt Lake City “in order to pick up the person who he believed to be 13 years old and take back to his hotel room in order to engage in sexual activity.” It was there that he was arrested by police and the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force. He was charged with one count of enticing a minor and four counts of dealing materials harmful to a minor.
After his arrest, Disney has broken ties with the actor completely. One of Disney’s representatives gave a statement Friday night: “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.”
Although Disney has confirmed there will be a third season, it is unclear how Andi Mack will resolve the issue of Ham Mack, Andi’s grandfather on the show. Westmoreland has also appeared in other popular shows, such as Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, NCIS, and Scandal.