Alex Kai Tick Chin, 40, of San Francisco, California, was sentenced to 37 years in prison for child exploitation crimes. The sentence includes 20 years of supervised release following his prison term. Chin was convicted for production of child pornography, enticement of a minor, and committing a sex crime against a minor while being a registered sex offender.
Chin was found guilty by a federal jury on August 22, 2024, after a three-day trial. Evidence showed that between December 2020 and February 2021, Chin coerced a minor in West Virginia to send him sexually explicit images via Snapchat by threatening self-harm. Chin engaged in similar activities with a second minor, soliciting nude images by making similar threats and sending explicit content of himself.
Chin continued communications with the minors until March 2022 when he traveled to West Virginia from California, attempting to meet them. His efforts were unsuccessful.
Chin, previously convicted of similar offenses in San Francisco in December 2017, was already a registered sex offender at the time. "The defendant was already a convicted sex offender when he targeted these two minor victims online," said Acting United States Attorney Lisa G. Johnston. "He has shown a complete inability to take any responsibility for his own actions."
The sentence was imposed by United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers and the case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jennifer Rada Herrald and Courtney L. Finney, with investigative efforts from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
The case falls under Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice aimed at combating child sexual exploitation. For further information on Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.
