| For Immediate Release Case # 09HF1033
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Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
MAN SENTENCED TO NINE YEARS IN PRISON FOR SEXUALLY ASSAULTING TWO TEENAGE GIRLS WHOM HE MET ONLINE ON MYSPACE AND STICKAM.COM
NEWPORT BEACH – A man was sentenced today to nine years in state prison for sexually assaulting two teenage girls, ages 14 and 17, both of whom he met online on MySpace.com or Stickam.com. Richard Alan Chaney, 25, Costa Mesa, pleaded guilty to one felony count each of oral copulation of a minor under 16 and contacting a child with the intent to distribute pornography to a minor for Jane Doe #1, and sexual penetration by foreign object of an unconscious victim and oral copulation of an unconscious person for Jane Doe #2. In addition to his nine year sentence, the defendant is required to register as a sex offender.
Between May 1, 2008, and July 31, 2008, Chaney communicated with 14-year-old Jane Doe #1, who lives in Texas, on the webcam based Internet website Stickam.com. The defendant engaged in sexually explicit conversations and mutual exhibitionism and masturbation with the victim.
On June 30, 2008, Chaney met Jane Doe #1 while she was visiting family in California. He picked up Jane Doe #1 at 4:00 a.m. after she sneaked out of the house and engaged in oral copulation with the victim in his car. Jane Doe #1’s mother called investigators at the Orange County Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (OC SAFE) Team (see below) on June 2, 2009, to report that her daughter her been sexually assaulted by Chaney.
During a search of the defendant’s home on June 5, 2009, OC SAFE Team investigators discovered several home-made videos and webcam images depicting the defendant performing sex acts on and with Jane Doe #1 and another teenage girl. Subsequent investigation led to the identification of 17-year-old Jane Doe #2 from one of the videos.
On May 30, 2009, Chaney videotaped himself sexually assaulting Jane Doe #2, whom he met online at MySpace.com or Stickam.com, by engaging in oral copulation and digital penetration with the victim while she was unconscious.
This case was jointly investigated by the Orange OC SAFE Team, Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) and United States Attorney’s Office. The OC SAFE Team is a multi-agency federal task force including the OCDA’s Bureau of Investigation, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. OC SAFE is aimed at preventing Internet crimes against children by targeting online predators and those who posses, produce, or distribute child pornography.
Deputy District Attorney Drew Haughton of the Sexual Assault Unit prosecuted this case.