The Fairfax County Department of Neighborhood and Community Services (NCS) has fired an employee after she got arrested for allegedly engaging in a sexual relationship with a teenager.
Zoha Sultan, a 23-year-old woman from Lorton, was arrested on April 20 for her relationship with a teen attending the Lorton Community Center, where she worked, the Fairfax County Police Department announced yesterday (Tuesday).
According to NCS, the community center’s management “was made aware” on April 11 that an employee was having a relationship with a minor.
“Staff immediately notified Fairfax County Police Department and Child Protective Services,” NCS Division Director Chris Scales said. “The employee was immediately removed from the center’s work schedule and banned from the facility.”
NCS terminated Sultan’s employment on April 23, Scales said in the statement, which is being shared with Lorton Community Center participants.
The FCPD confirmed that the relationship was reported to its officers on April 11, prompting detectives to launch an investigation.
Sultan, who started working at the community center in January 2023, has been charged with four counts of indecent liberties with a minor by a person in a custodial position, according to the FCPD.
NCS and the police say anyone with additional information about the case can contact detectives at 703-246-7800, option 4. NCS can also be reached at 703-324-3480.
“We value the trust that families place in us to create a safe and nurturing environment where children can thrive and reach their full potential,” Scales said. “Their well-being and growth remain the highest priority for Fairfax County Neighborhood & Community Services.”
Located at 9520 Richmond Highway, the Lorton Community Center opened in October 2022 as part of a new campus that also hosts the Lorton Library and Lorton Park. The 30,000-square-foot facility includes space for the nonprofit Lorton Community Action Center, a senior center and a teen center.
Image via Google Maps
A Pimmit Hills man has been accused of possessing child porn and having sex with a teenager who was reported missing in New York.
Detectives arrested 20-year-old Muammer Steve Demir on Friday (March 15) after they found him with the teen at a house in the 7300 block of Sportsman Drive, the Fairfax County Police Department announced today (Monday).
Demir was in possession of child sexual abuse material when police arrived at the house, according to the FCPD.
The FCPD says its Missing Person Unit and Child Exploitation Unit detectives were notified yesterday that a missing teen from New York may be in Fairfax County, and their investigation led them to Demir’s house.
“Detectives learned Demir drove to New York in August of 2023 and then brought the juvenile back to Virginia,” the FCPD said.
Demir has been charged with having carnal knowledge of a child and possessing child abuse material, but additional charges are expected, according to police. He’s currently in custody at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center without bond.
The teen has been reunited with her family, the FCPD said.
After an arraignment on March 15, Demir is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on June 25, per Fairfax County General District Court records.
A man already convicted of possessing child pornography has been sentenced to life in prison for shooting a fellow military veteran nearly seven years ago.
Jaeyoung Lee was sentenced to life, plus 48 years in prison for shooting Jeremy Tammone on Oct. 21, 2017, leaving him permanently injured, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano announced Friday (Jan. 26).
Lee, who served in the U.S. Navy for seven years, waited outside Tammone’s apartment in the Franconia District and shot him three times after he answered the door, according to the commonwealth’s attorney’s office.
Tammone is a 50-year-old Army and Marine veteran who was working at that time as a Defense Department contractor, according to an NBC4 report. He was also a friend of a woman who had recently broken up with Lee.
According to prosecutors, Lee had spent months stalking his ex-girlfriend, including by “hacking her social media accounts to monitor her messages, installing cameras in her home, and making copies of her apartment door locks to practice unlocking them.”
Police quickly identified Lee as a suspect in Tammone’s shooting, per NBC4, but his arrest didn’t come until Jan. 9, 2018 after detectives found a device with child pornography images and videos during a search of Lee’s apartment in the “Alexandria section” of Fairfax County.
Initially charged with 20 counts of child porn possession, Lee was ultimately convicted on 100 counts in January 2020, according to Descano’s office. The conviction was appealed and sustained by a three-judge panel in July 2021.
In that case, Lee was sentenced on June 12, 2020 to a total of 20 years in prison — one year for each of the 100 charges, with 80 of them running concurrently instead of consecutively — but 15 years were suspended, giving him five years of active jail time, a spokesperson for the commonwealth’s attorney’s office says.
For the shooting, prosecutors pushed for a life sentence because they believe Lee’s “actions indicate that he remains a serious danger to the community,” Descano said. Lee was convicted of seven felonies in a May 2023 trial.
“Over a period of months, he planned and calculated, committing multiple felonies as he stalked his ex-girlfriend,” Descano said. “This period of dangerous obsession culminated in one of the worst possible outcomes: a victim’s life permanently destroyed.”
Tammone continues to suffer from the brain and organ damage he sustained from the shooting, which left him unable to eat or drink, NBC4 reported. He and his family told the news station that they felt Lee’s sentencing was an “appropriate close of…this horrific chapter” of their lives.
In addition to the life sentence for aggravated malicious wounding, Lee received three years for using a firearm in a felony, 20 years for malicious computer trespassing, 10 years for possessing burglary tools, and five years each for wiretapping and two counts of using a computer to obtain personal information, per Descano’s office.
“Individuals who pose this kind of danger receive sentences that first and foremost keep the community safe,” Descano said. “I’m grateful to the detectives and prosecutors who helped bring this case through to the end, and I hope that closing the book today brings a measure of justice the victims and their families.”
The commonwealth’s attorney’s office also announced a life-in-prison sentence on Friday for McLean resident Megan Hargan, who shot and killed her mother and sister on July 14, 2017.
The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office is vigorously denying allegations that a man facing child sexual abuse and porn charges was released from the county’s jail last year in defiance of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer.
In a Jan. 8 press release, ICE accused the sheriff’s office of not honoring a criminal detainer for an unnamed “Honduran national” when the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center released him from custody last July. The federal agency said the man subsequently assaulted a deportation officer during a raid on his Springfield home on Jan. 4.
However, the sheriff’s office issued a statement yesterday (Tuesday) stating that ICE’s press release and subsequent news reports based on the release, which was picked up by FOX5, “are blatantly false.” The office says the man was released after paying $3,000 in bonds set by a magistrate.
“In the three hours this individual was in the custody of the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office, at no time was an ICE detainer or outstanding warrant provided to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center,” the sheriff’s office said.
According to the sheriff’s office, local law enforcement arrested the man on July 18, 2023 and charged him with carnal knowledge and possessing and manufacturing child pornography. ICE attributed the arrest to the sheriff’s office in its press release, but the arrest was actually made by the Herndon Police Department, an HPD spokesperson confirmed to FFXnow.
Per the sheriff’s office, the man arrived at the county jail at 8:45 p.m. that day.
“At that time a full check to determine the existence of any outstanding detainers or warrants was conducted. None existed,” the sheriff’s office said. “Upon being served with the criminal charges, the magistrate immediately gave this individual a $1,000 bond on each of his three charges.”
The man was released at 11:45 p.m. that day after paying the bond.
The sheriff’s office added that it sent “numerous” calls, emails and text messages to ICE officials attempting “to correct this misinformation,” but they went unanswered. It also says FOX5 reported ICE’s story, even though the sheriff’s office had “provided specific information contradicting their narrative” prior to the article’s publication.
ICE and FOX5 didn’t return requests for comment from FFXnow by press time, though the FOX5 story has been updated with the sheriff’s statement.
“The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office follows all local, state, and federal laws regarding the holding of inmates on outstanding detainers and warrants and routinely works with all public safety agencies to ensure the safety of our community,” the sheriff’s office said in its statement.
The sheriff’s office ended an agreement with ICE on May 28, 2018 that committed it to detaining people in jail past their release date until they’re picked up by immigration authorities. Now, the sheriff requires a detainer indicating that the person is facing criminal charges in addition to an administrative warrant, which reflects only civil immigration law violations.
The county adopted a “Trust Policy” in 2021 formally barring county government employees from sharing information with ICE unless required by law or a court order. Since May 2020, the Fairfax County Police Department has directed officers not to report individuals to ICE based on a civil administrative warrant.
A court hearing in the child porn case was held yesterday and continued to April, according to a Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court clerk.
A teacher from Texas drove over 1,500 miles to Fairfax County earlier this month with the expectation that he would have illegal sexual contact with a minor, local police say.
David Ortiz, 32, was arrested Friday (Jan. 12) as part of the Fairfax County Police Department’s ongoing crackdown on online sexual solicitations of juveniles, known as “Operation ADC Express 2,” according to a news release published today (Tuesday).
According to police, Ortiz “began having sexually related chats online” in December with a Child Exploitation Unit detective who was posing as a juvenile. The FCPD previously shared that, for the operation, detectives presented themselves on online platforms as 13 or 14-year-old teens.
“On January 10, the man indicated he was driving from Texas to Fairfax County to have an illicit meeting,” the FCPD said. “On Friday, David Ortiz, 32, of Texas, was arrested by detectives from our Street Crimes Unit.”
The department confirmed that the arrest occurred in Fairfax County but didn’t provide any more specifics about the exact location.
Ortiz is a high school band teacher for the United Independent School District, the public school system for Webb County, Texas, that’s headquartered in Laredo, according to the FCPD, which says it has been in contact with authorities in Texas.
Currently in custody at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center with no bond, Ortiz has been charged with production of child sexual abuse material, multiple counts of using a communication device to solicit a minor and attempted indecent liberties with a minor.
Ortiz is the 11th person arrested as a result of the sting operation, which began on Dec. 18. The FCPD announced on Dec. 28 that 10 men had collectively been charged with 25 felonies related to solicting individuals they believed were under 15 years old.
“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,” the police department said. “Children should be encouraged to report any person engaging in inappropriate conversations or trying to coerce them into providing sexually explicit images of themselves.”
Almost a dozen men, whose jobs reportedly range from technology worker to yoga instructor, have been charged with attempting to solicit sex from children after a three-day sting operation by the Fairfax County Police Department.
Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis announced this morning that 10 men were arrested as a result of “Operation ADC Express 2,” which began on Dec. 18 and involved undercover detectives with the department’s Child Exploitation Unit posing online as 13 or 14-year-old teens.
Noting that several of those arrested have criminal records, Davis said he’s “satisfied” to see that “10 predators are in jail this holiday season.”
“We never know the true impact of taking one of these predators off the street, because ultimately, they offend again, again and again,” Davis said at the press conference. “It’s been my experience that the only way to interrupt the criminal misconduct of these types of predators is to incarcerate them, so that’s exactly what we did.”
According to the FCPD, the undercover detectives encountered the suspects in online forums, where the men initiated “sexually related conversations” even though the detectives explicitly presented themselves as underaged.
The men were arrested when they attempted to meet the detectives, who they believed were teens, at an agreed-upon “familiar public place,” Davis said.
Collectively facing 25 felony charges, all of the suspects are in custody at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center without bond, as of this morning, according to police.
- Michael Flannery, 33, of Winchester was arrested and charged with Attempted Indecent Liberties and Computer-Solicitation of Child Under 15-Years-Old.
- Casto Ian Unson III, 35, of Vienna was arrested and charged with Attempted Indecent Liberties and Computer-Solicitation of Child Under 15-Years-Old.
- Ravi Vongavolu, 24, of Herndon was arrested and charged with Attempted Indecent Liberties and Computer-Solicitation of Child Under 15-Years-Old.
- Rabiul Islam, 44, of Arlington was arrested and charged with Attempted Indecent Liberties and Computer-Solicitation of Child Under 15-Years-Old and Attempted Production of CSAM.
- Osman Aslan, 30, of Vienna was arrested and charged with Attempted Indecent Liberties and Computer-Solicitation of Child Under 15-Years-Old.
- Estuardo Orozco Orozco, 27, of Falls Church was arrested and charged with Computer-Solicitation of Child Under 15-Years-Old.
- Mohamed Elnefili, 38, of Qatar was arrested and charged with Attempted Indecent Liberties and Computer-Solicitation of Child Under 15-Years-Old. He was currently staying in Springfield at the time of his arrest.
- Roy Hayes, 22 of Herndon was arrested and charged with Attempted Indecent Liberties and Computer-Solicitation of Child Under 15-Years-Old.
- Imran Ahmad, 42, of Ashburn was arrested and charged with Attempted Indecent Liberties and Computer-Solicitation of Child Under 15-Years-Old.
- Bassem Karam, 36, of Herndon was arrested and charged with Attempted Indecent Liberties and Computer-Solicitation of Child Under 15-Years-Old.
Police officials urged parents to have conversations with their children about safely using apps and social media and avoiding inappropriate interactions with strangers online, suggesting the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children as a resource.
According to Davis, one of the FCPD’s goals for 2024 is to conduct more operations similar to this three-day crackdown.
“Our community can expect to see more of this in 2024, because our children deserve it,” he said.
A Tysons man who got arrested for allegedly possessing illegal guns is now also facing child pornography charges.
The Fairfax County Police Department announced yesterday (Tuesday) that its detectives have obtained warrants charging 31-year-old Craig Strasbourger with three counts of possessing child sexual abuse material, one count of soliciting a minor, and one count of possessing animal sexual abuse material.
Police say they started investigating Strasbourger after getting a tip in September from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about “sexual communication with an underage individual from Kentucky.”
The communications came from an internet provider address that was traced to Strasbourger’s home on Robin Way Court, according to the FCPD.
Strasbourger was first arrested on Nov. 16 after police found four rifles that had been “unlawfully modified” while searching his residence. He was charged with four counts of unlawful possession of the firearms, which were described as “illegal machine guns” in the FCPD’s initial news release.
During the search, detectives also found “various computer devices” that were evaluated, leading to the new porn charges, according to police.
After the gun charges, Strasbourger was released on a $4,000 secured bond, but he was arrested again on Monday (Nov. 27) and is now in custody at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. A preliminary court hearing on all charges has been scheduled for Feb. 20, 2024.
Fairfax County police confiscated multiple machine guns last week from a Tysons man who was suspected of sending sexual messages to a juvenile.
Detectives began investigating Craig Strasbourger, 31, after receiving a tip in September from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s CyberTipline, which gets reports of child sexual exploitation incidents, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.
The tip indicated that Strasbourger “was suspected to be engaging in sexual communication with a juvenile from Kentucky,” the FCPD said in a news release on Friday (Nov. 17).
Detectives and the department’s SWAT team executed a search warrant for Strasbourger’s house on Robin Way Court on Thursday (Nov. 16), leading to his arrest.
“During the operation, detectives confiscated four illegal machine guns and various electronic devices from the premises,” the FCPD said.
Strasbourger has been charged with four counts of unlawful possession of a machine gun. He was initially held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center but later got released on a $4,000 secured bond, according to police.
Additional charges could be filed in connection with the electronic devices, which are being reviewed by detectives, the police department said.
Machine guns are allowed in Virginia, but they must be registered with the Virginia State Police. Under the Uniform Machine Gun Act, possession for an “offensive or aggressive purpose” is a Class 4 felony, which carries potential sentences of two to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.
The FCPD didn’t immediately elaborate on what made the machine guns found at Strasbourger’s house illegal, but the state law says an aggressive or offensive purpose is presumed if:
- The gun isn’t registered
- Shells are found in its “immediate vicinity”
- The person has been convicted of a violent crime
- Or the person doesn’t own or rent the property where the gun was found
Per Fairfax County General District Court records, Strasbourger is scheduled to appear for an arraignment at 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 27 and a preliminary hearing at 2 p.m. on Feb. 20, 2024.
A Groveton Elementary School teacher is facing indecent liberties and child pornography charges after allegedly exposing himself to a child this weekend — an incident that police say may not be his first.
James William Nugent II, 27, of Alexandria “lured” a juvenile into his Toyota Sienna van in Fort Hunt’s Stratford Landing neighborhood early in the afternoon on Saturday (Oct. 21), the Fairfax County Police Department said in a news release yesterday (Wednesday).
“The victim ran away and contacted the police,” the FCPD said, noting that the victim wasn’t injured.
Officers responded to the intersection of Camden Street and Wittington Blvd at 1:30 p.m.
According to the police department, detectives identified Nugent as the van driver based on surveillance footage shared by a community member and a nearby license plate reader. The FCPD partnered with Flock Safety to install automated license plate readers last November, expanding its test of the devices this spring through Oct. 31.
Nugent was arrested yesterday morning. During a search of his residence, detectives found “numerous child sexual abuse material,” the FCPD said.
He has been charged with taking indecent liberties with a child, an offense that applies to situations involving victims under 15 years old, and 13 counts of distributing child pornography.
“Through our detectives’ investigation, they believe Nugent exposed himself to at least four additional victims near Stratford Elementary School within the past two weeks,” the FCPD said. “Detectives would like to speak to anyone who has information about this case or may have been a victim.”
The department advises anyone with potential information to call 703-246-7800, option 3, or submit a tip through Crime Solvers.
Nugent is currently employed by Fairfax County Public Schools as a resource teacher at Groveton Elementary School, which is almost five miles away from where Saturday’s exposure incident occurred.
“The victim in the case is not affiliated with his employment,” police said.
FCPS declined to comment on the case, directing inquiries to the police department. Nugent is still listed as a resource teacher in Groveton Elementary’s staff directory.
The Fairfax County Police Department has bolstered its presence in Franconia today (Wednesday) after a man reportedly tried to abduct a child near Island Creek Elementary School yesterday.
The encounter occurred at 4:15 p.m. when a 10-year-old was walking on Morning View Lane to get to a playground, police said:
A suspect, described as a black man, 40-years-old, 6’1”, thin and bald, was reported to have grabbed the victim by the arm. The child was able to pull away and quickly run back to the school. The suspect was wearing a gray shirt, blue jeans and had a black backpack.
Officers with the assistance of our K9 and helicopter searched the area, but the man was not found. Detectives are continuing to investigate, and our Franconia District officers will have an increased presence in the neighborhood.
Fairfax County Public Schools had no comment, stating that the case is being handled by the police.
This spring, the FCPD investigated incidents in Reston and Lorton where “suspicious” buses had tried to pick up children at school bus stops. Detectives later determined that no criminal activity had occurred, as both vehicles were in the area for “normal business.”
Photo via Google Maps
