Missouri Couple Indicted for Abducting and Sexually Abusing 13-Year-Old They Groomed Online

ROANOKE, VA. – A federal grand jury returned an indictment yesterday charging Justin Johiah Curtright, 40, and Christin Marie Curtright, 32, a married couple from Springfield, Missouri. This indictment follows the couples’ arrest and preliminary hearing last month on a federal criminal complaint. The complaint alleged that the Curtrights groomed a 13-year-old victim over the internet, traveled from Missouri to pick her up from her home in Virginia, then repeatedly sexually assaulted her in their van and at their apartment until she was rescued by police.

The indictment charges: coercion and enticement of a minor, which carries a 10-year mandatory minimum prison sentence; conspiracy and transportation of a minor in interstate commerce to engage in criminal sexual activity, which also carries a mandatory 10-year minimum prison sentence; and three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, which each carry 15-year mandatory minimum prison sentences. If convicted, the Curtrights face a maximum punishment of life in prison.

According to court documents, in May 2024 the victim met Justin Curtright on Discord, an online group chat platform, where the two talked for hours. The victim initially used an alias and claimed she was 18 years old. Justin Curtright soon began talking in sexual overtones and eventually sent the victim a sexually explicit video of himself.

The next morning, Justin added the victim to a private Discord channel that included both him and his wife, Christin Curtright.  From that point, the three talked extensively, both online and by phone.  The victim eventually admitted she was only 13 years old.

The Curtrights also engaged in sexually explicit acts on camera while video chatting with the victim. Justin would frequently pretend to be the victim’s father.

At some point near the end of June, the Curtrights devised a plan to drive to Virginia to abduct the victim and take her to their Springfield apartment.  On the morning of July 24, 2024, as planned, the Curtrights met the victim near her home in Virginia.  The victim got in the Curtrights’ vehicle, and they drove her back to Missouri.

During the trip back to Missouri, the Curtrights each took turns sexually assaulting the victim while the other drove. Once they reached their apartment, they continued their sexual abuse and exploitation of the victim for several more days.

On July 27, 2024, officers with the Springfield Police Department went to the Curtrights’ apartment, where they found the victim hiding in the back of a closet in the Curtrights’ bedroom. The victim had a debit card and false ID that Justin Curtright gave her, which represented her as Justin’s 15-year-old daughter.

Springfield officers seized the Curtrights’ phones, which held recordings of the Curtrights’ video chats grooming and sexually exploiting the victim, as well as images of the victim being abused during the drive to Missouri.

Acting United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee and Stanley M. Meador, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Division, made the announcement today.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Springfield Police Department, and various local law enforcement agencies investigated the case.

Assistant United States Attorneys Drew O. Inman is prosecuting the case for the United States.

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

The case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identity and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.