Fairfax County police arrest 5 men in operation targeting accused online child predators

Anna Chen
·2 min read

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (DC News Now) — The Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) said five men were arrested after traveling into Fairfax County for “criminal encounters with minors.”

FCPD’s Child Exploitation Unit (CEXU) was trying to find people who use the internet to have sexual conversations with juveniles. FCPD said the men came into the county to engage in sex acts with a minor but were greeted by CEXU detectives instead.

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The five men were arrested and charged with:

  • Steven Morales, 30, of Woodbridge, was arrested and charged with solicitation of a minor and attempted indecent liberties with a minor.

  • Karl Frey, 53, of Maryland, was arrested and charged with solicitation of a minor and attempted indecent liberties with a minor.

  • Joseph Nandigam, 24, of Fairfax, was arrested and charged with solicitation of a minor and attempted indecent liberties with a minor.

  • Adeel Chughtai, 30, of Lorton, was arrested and charged with solicitation of a minor.

  • 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.

FCPD urged parents to monitor what their children are doing online and use security settings to prevent them from accessing material or sites that are inappropriate.

Children should also report anyone attempting to coerce them into inappropriate conversations or sending sexually explicit photos of themselves.

Police said the four-day-long operation occurred during Fairfax County students’ spring break. Undercover detectives were strategically utilizing apps they knew predators used, with a goal of leading to arrests.

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“We’re absolutely not catching all of them,” said Blake Albritton, a detective with the CEXU. “I wish we could and that’s why we do this job.”

The five men are all facing felony charges.

Deputy Police Chief Brooke Wright said she believes these incidents are underreported.

Still, Albritton said the unit received an estimated 1,200 tips last year and issued more than 500 residential search warrants.

According to the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children, nationwide online enticement reports increased by 323% between 2021 and 2023.

“The ages of these children, and the victims of our cases, are getting younger and younger,” Albritton said. “I think that’s just due to the access they have to the internet.”

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Police offered a number of tips to parents, including: 

  • Be open with your child

  • Know your child’s phone password

  • Have access to your child’s phone

  • Charge your child’s phone in a parent’s room overnight

  • Beware of a “second” calculator app, or something similar, which can act as a secret vault to other apps or photos

Anyone with information about these incidents was asked to call (703) 246-7800, option 6.

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