Virginia Man Indicted for Producing Sexually Explicit Videos of a Minor and Exploiting a Minor Online

MINNEAPOLIS - A Virginia man has been indicted for using social media to contact and coerce a minor to create sexually explicit material, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger.

According to court documents, between November 2023 and February 2024, Raymond Jung Woo Choi, 41, of Centreville, Virginia, used Instagram and other social media apps to engage in sexually-focused conversations with a 13-14-year-old girl. Choi, using the alias "Jason Lee," knowingly enticed and coerced the minor victim to send him sexually explicit images and videos on Instagram. Choi also groomed and enticed the minor victim by providing gifts, which he sent via Amazon or mailed directly via the U.S. Postal Service.

According to court documents, on February 17, 2024, Choi flew from Virginia to Minnesota to attempt to meet the minor victim in person. Because of family and law enforcement intervention, Choi was unsuccessful in his meeting attempt and flew back to Virginia.

On July 13, 2024, Choi was arrested in Fairfax City, Virginia. On July 15, 2024, Choi made his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia before Magistrate Judge Lindsey R. Vaala. On July 17, 2024, Choi was ordered detained and will remain in custody pending further proceedings in the District of Minnesota. The indictment charges Choi with one count of production of child pornography, one count of receipt of child pornography, and one count of coercion and enticement of a minor.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorney's Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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 to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Anoka County Sheriff's Office and U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Hillary A. Taylor is prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.