DUBLIN — A Hayward man has been released from jail, avoided being a registered sex offender, got several criminal charges dropped to settle allegations he sexually blackmailed a girl.

But 26-year-old Andrew Patrick Kelly did plead no contest to a statutory rape charge and receive a two-year probation term, as part of the plea deal with Alameda County prosecutors. He was also ordered to stay away from the victim for 10 years, court records show.

Kelly was arrested and charged last September with sexually abusing a 17-year-old girl, then threatening to post video of their lewd encounter to social media and embarrass her if she didn’t see him again. As part of the deal, Kelly was formally sentenced on Jan. 9 to time he had already spent in jail, court records show.

At Kelly’s November 2024 preliminary hearing, the teen testified she was “afraid” of him and that when she later told him she would go to the police, the blackmail began.

“He told me that if I was going to the police, he was going to publish the videos,” the teen testified.

At the hearing, Kelly’s lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Amy Golinveaux, argued there was “no concrete evidence” Kelly knew the girl was a minor. She argued that the girl had a “mature” look because of her use of makeup, and that she sent pictures of herself with Kelly showing “pronounced cleavage.” Golinveaux added that Kelly could have assumed the girl was an 18-year-old high school senior, not necessarily underage, a transcript of the hearing says.

In a police interview last year, Kelly claimed everything that happened with the girl was consensual and occurred after her 18th birthday, authorities said in court filings.