Williams is known by his family as "Andrew" or "Andy" for short and was born in Frederick, Maryland on February 8, 1986, the firstborn child of Jeff and Linda Williams. Andy has one half-brother, Michael. His parents divorced in 1990, leaving his father with custody and a small amount of contact with his mother. Jeff and Andy moved to California in the fall. Williams attended Santana High School in Santee, California He began to spend time with a crowd of skateboarders. Williams was accepted within this peer group; however, at times these individuals also bullied him. Jeff has stated that an older man allegedly bought the boys alcohol and drugs in exchange for sexual favors and that Andy did not mention this abuse until long after his arrest. That older man, Chris Reynolds, is now incarcerated in Oklahoma for molesting other adolescent boys.