Registered Sex Offender Sentenced to 37 Years in Prison for Child Exploitation Crimes

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Alex Kai Tick Chin, 40, of San Francisco, California, was sentenced today to 37 years in prison, to be followed by 20 years of supervised release, for production of child pornography, enticement of a minor, and committing a sex crime against a minor while a registered sex offender.

A federal jury convicted Chin on August 22, 2024, after a three-day trial. Evidence at trial proved that from on or about December 12, 2020, through on or about February 14, 2021, Chin coerced a minor female residing within the Southern District of West Virginia to record and send him sexually explicit images of herself via the Snapchat multimedia instant messaging app. Chin threatened to harm himself if the minor female did not send him sexually explicit images.

Chin exchanged messages with a second minor female during the same time period who also resided within the Southern District of West Virginia, engaging in sexual conversations and soliciting nude images from her as well. Chin also threatened to harm himself in conversations with the second minor female unless she complied 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 in a white panel van equipped with a mattress to the Southern District of West Virginia. There, he attempted unsuccessfully to meet both minor females in person.

Chin was a registered sex offender at the time of these offenses, and has been since his felony conviction for possession of child pornography in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco, on December 27, 2017.

“The defendant was already a convicted sex offender when he targeted these two minor victims online. He groomed them, preyed upon their vulnerabilities, and coerced them into sending him pictures,” said Acting United States Attorney Lisa G. Johnston. “He has shown a complete inability to take any responsibility for his own actions or demonstrate any remorse for his conduct, which was reprehensible in this case.”

Johnston made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers imposed the sentence. Assistant United States Attorneys Jennifer Rada Herrald and Courtney L. Finney prosecuted the case.

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. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's 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.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. 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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