Southern District of West Virginia | Federal jury convicts registered sex offender of child sex crimes

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – After a three-day trial, a federal jury on August 22, 2024, convicted Alex Kai Tick Chin, 39, of San Francisco, California, of producing child pornography, enticing a minor, and committing a sex offense against a minor while a registered sex offender.

Evidence at trial established that from approximately December 12, 2020, through approximately February 14, 2021, Chin used, convinced, induced, enticed, and coerced a minor female residing in the Southern District of West Virginia to record and send him sexually explicit images of herself via the Snapchat multimedia instant messaging app. To do so, Chin complimented the minor female and stated that they were romantically involved, but also threatened to harm himself if she did not send him the sexually explicit images. Chin was a registered sex offender at the time and remains so following his conviction for possession of child pornography in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco, on December 27, 2017.

During the same time period, Chin exchanged messages with a second minor female who also lived in the Southern District of West Virginia, during which he engaged in sexual conversations and also requested nude photographs of her. Chin also threatened to harm himself in conversations with the second minor female if she did not comply with his demands. Chin sent photos and videos of himself to the second minor female, including an image of himself masturbating. Chin continued to communicate with both minor females until early March 2022, when he drove from California to the Southern District of West Virginia in a white van with a mattress. There, he attempted unsuccessfully to meet both minor females in person.

Chin is expected to be sentenced on December 9, 2024, and faces a mandatory prison sentence of at least 35 years and up to life in prison.

“Mr. Chin sexually assaulted a minor girl, attempted to do the same to a second girl, and then repeatedly lied to the grand jury to conceal and evade responsibility for his criminal conduct,” said U.S. Attorney Will Thompson. “I commend the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) for their investigative work in this case, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Rada Herrald and Courtney L. Finney and our trial team for obtaining guilty verdicts on all three counts in the indictment.”

U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers presided over the jury trial.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Abuse and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children online, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.

A copy of this press release can be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:22-cr-87.

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