Full Court Press: Recent Operation Nets Multiple Child Predators

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Fairfax County, VA – FCPD just wrapped up a four-day full court press on online predators by our Major Crimes Bureau Child Exploitation Unit (CEXU), has resulted in the arrest of five travelers seeking criminal encounters with minors.

Fairfax County Police Department’s CEXU sought to uncover offenders who use internet platforms to initiate sexually related conversations with individuals they believed to be juveniles online. The offenders came to Fairfax County with the intention of committing a sex act with the minor, only to discover Child Exploitation Unit (CEXU) detectives and Street Crimes detectives waiting for them. The five men ranged in age from 24-53 and were charged with a total of 12 felonies.

  1. Steven Morales, 30, of Woodbridge was arrested and charged with Solicitation of a Minor and Attempted Indecent Liberties with a Minor.
  2. Karl Frey, 53, of Maryland was arrested and charged with Solicitation of a Minor and Attempted Indecent Liberties with a Minor. 
  3. Joseph Nandigam, 24, of Fairfax was arrested and charged with Solicitation of a Minor and Attempted Indecent Liberties with a Minor.
  4. Adeel Chughtai, 30, of Lorton was arrested and charged with Solicitation of a Minor.
  5. Byron Crawford, 26, of Maryland, was arrested and charged with two counts of Solicitation of a Minor and three counts of Distribution of Child Pornography.

Parents are urged to closely monitor their children’s online activities and use available security settings to prevent the use of inappropriate sites or platforms. Children should be encouraged to report any person engaging in inappropriate conversations or trying to coerce them into providing sexually explicit images of themselves. Additional internet safety information provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children can be found HERE. There are many applications predators use to solicit victims. Parents are encouraged to know what applications their children are using and have open dialog of the dangers they may pose.

Detectives are asking anyone with information regarding these incidents or others with a similar nexus to call our Major Crimes Bureau at 703-246-7800, option 6. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Solvers by phone – 1-866-411-TIPS (866-411-8477), and by web – Click HERE. Download the ‘P3 Tips’ App “Fairfax Co Crime Solvers”. Anonymous tipsters are eligible for cash rewards. Please leave contact information if you wish for a detective to follow up with you. 

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