crimes against children | FFXnow

Reston man sentenced to prison for sexually exploiting teens

Published February 27, 2025 at 1:15PM | Updated February 27, 2025 at 1:46PM

The Albert V. Bryan U.S. Courthouse in Alexandria (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

A Reston man has been sentenced by a federal judge to nearly two decades in prison for preying on teens he encountered online — more than three years after Fairfax County courts dismissed similar charges against him.

Xavier Dejuan Jackson, 28, was sentenced to 19 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff in Alexandria today (Thursday) after he pleaded guilty last year to sexually exploiting a child, transporting minors and attempting to coerce a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced.

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FCPD: Falls Church HS teacher and others charged in online child exploitation operation

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 11, 2025 at 1:15PM | Updated February 11, 2025 at 1:31PM

Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis announces arrests by child exploitation unit detectives on Feb. 11, 2025 (via FCPD/Facebook)

A recent online operation conducted by child exploitation detectives resulted in seven arrests, including that of a Falls Church High School teacher, the Fairfax County Police Department announced this morning (Tuesday).

Richard Berkowitz, a health and physical education teacher at the school in West Falls Church, was arrested on Jan. 29, two days into the operation, but Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Michelle Reid was asked to hold off on notifying the community so the operation could continue, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said at a press conference.

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JUST IN: FCPS teacher charged with sexually assaulting students

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 7, 2025 at 2:20PM | Updated February 7, 2025 at 3:43PM

Fairview Elementary School teacher John Barger has been charged with sexual assault (via FCPD)

A local elementary school teacher is facing criminal charges for allegedly sexually assaulting two students.

Fairfax County’s Child Protective Services received a tip on Jan. 17 reporting that a student at Fairview Elementary School (5815 Ox Road) in Fairfax Station had been sexually assaulted by a teacher, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

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Fort Belvoir woman pleads guilty to assaulting son

By Angela Woolsey

Published January 29, 2025 at 8:15AM

The Albert V. Bryan U.S. Courthouse in Alexandria (file photo)

A Fort Belvoir woman who allegedly beat her son for not cleaning his bedroom pleaded guilty to assault charges on Monday (Jan. 27), the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced yesterday.

According to court documents, China Ashley Charles, a 38-year-old woman who lived in military housing on the Army installation, called police on Oct. 8, 2024 to report that her son had run away after she “disciplined him for not cleaning” his bedroom.

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JUST IN: Man charged with soliciting teen he met through TikTok, police say

By Angela Woolsey

Published January 28, 2025 at 12:15PM

Fairfax County police vehicle with blue lights on (file photo)

A man traveled from Minnesota to Virginia this past weekend to engage in illicit sexual acts with a teenager, Fairfax County police say.

Officers were called to a house in the 2000 block of Blue Ridge Court near Herndon at 3:05 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25 after a resident reported finding his 15-year-old child with an adult man, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

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JUST IN: Herndon man accused of killing wife now charged with child abuse

By Angela Woolsey

Published December 16, 2024 at 3:15PM | Updated December 16, 2024 at 3:52PM

Brendan Robert Banfield, 39, of Reston (courtesy FCPD)

A Herndon man already charged with murder in connection with the killings of his wife and another man in their home is now facing new charges.

A grand jury indicted Brendan Banfield, 39, on one count of felony child abuse and neglect and one count of felony child cruelty for his actions on Feb. 24, 2023, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano announced today (Monday).

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JUST IN: Man charged with soliciting sex from teen at Spring Hill Metro station

By Angela Woolsey

Published November 4, 2024 at 8:15PM

The entrance to the Spring Hill Metro station in Tysons (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

A Maryland man was arrested over the weekend after allegedly soliciting sex from a 15-year-old he met at the Spring Hill Metro station in Tysons.

The teen’s parents reported to the police on Friday (Nov. 1) that a man had solicited their child first in person and then in subsequent communications in October, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

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Man arrested in connection with 40-year-old sexual assaults in Great Falls

By Fatimah Waseem

Published September 23, 2024 at 9:45AM

Edward Shelton in the 1980s and in a 2024 mug shot (courtesy FCPD)

A Fredericksburg man was arrested and charged last week in connection with sexual assaults that allegedly occurred over 40 years ago at a horse farm in Great Falls.

Edward Shelton, 81, turned himself in to the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office last Thursday, Sept. 19, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

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UPDATED: Reston man charged with unlawfully filming FCPS students

By Angela Woolsey and James Jarvis

Published September 4, 2024 at 1:30PM | Updated September 4, 2024 at 2:43PM

Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Michelle Reid and Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis discuss an investigation into a former FCPS contractor who allegedly filmed students (staff photo by James Jarvis)

Fairfax County police have filed new charges against a Reston man who was already facing sexual assault and child porn allegations.

Arturo Elmore-Adon, 25, was charged yesterday (Tuesday) with seven counts of unlawful filming after detectives found videos he had allegedly taken of four girls, all of them Fairfax County Public Schools students, the Fairfax County Police Department announced today.

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Groveton couple charged after kids found chained in apartment

By Associated Press

Published September 3, 2024 at 3:30PM

Fairfax County Courthouse (file photo)

By MATTHEW BARAKAT Associated Press

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A mother and her partner have been charged with child abuse and child cruelty after police found two kids chained by the ankle in a northern Virginia apartment.