FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, August 24, 2022

District of Columbia Man Pleads Guilty to Child Exploitation and Sex Abuse Charges

Defendant Posed as Young Girl to Target Victim

            WASHINGTON –Christopher Young, 31, of Washington, D.C., has pleaded guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor and second-degree child sexual abuse for abusing a minor child, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal Division, and Robert J. Contee III, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Young pleaded guilty on Aug. 23, 2022, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The Honorable Amit P. Mehta scheduled sentencing for Dec. 6, 2022.

            According to the government’s evidence, Young, pretending to be a young girl, reached out to the victim, a 10-year-old child, in June 2019 through a messaging application. In the messages that Young exchanged with the victim, he blackmailed her for the purpose of sexually abusing her. While pretending to be a young girl, Young messaged the victim, stating that if the victim did not engage in sexual acts with Young, embarrassing photographs of the victim would be disseminated to the victim’s family. Young also photographed his sexual abuse of the victim. One of these photographs was recovered from Young’s e-mail account.

            The victim reported the abuse to her mother, and Young was arrested on July 23, 2019. He has been in custody since his arrest.

            This case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. The task force is composed of FBI agents, along with other federal agents and detectives from northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. The task force is charged with investigating and bringing federal charges against individuals engaged in the exploitation of children and those engaged in human trafficking.

            This case was brought as part of the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood initiative. In February 2006, the Attorney General created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorney's Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

            In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Graves, Special Agent in Charge Jacobs, and Chief Contee commended the work of those who investigated the case from FBI Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, as well as the MPD’s Narcotics and Special Investigation Division, Human Trafficking Unit.  They also expressed appreciation for the efforts of those who handled the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Alexis Spencer-Anderson, Victim/Witness Advocate Yvonne Bryant, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jodi Lazarus, Kathleen Kern, Rachel Bohlen, and Janani Iyengar.