Va. state trooper arrested on sex abuse, porn charges

Police are saying little about the investigation that led to the arrest Monday of a Virginia state trooper assigned to the Area 12 Office in Warrenton.

Sgt. Les Tyler, spokesman with the State Police Division II headquarters in Culpeper, said Christopher A. Carson, 29, of Bealeton, was arrested on four charges.

Carson was charged with one felony count of aggravated sexual battery, one misdemeanor count of indecent liberties with a child, and two counts of distributing pornography to a minor.

Two of the charges are related to sexual misconduct with a juvenile that allegedly occurred more than 10 years ago, and prior to Carson’s employment with the state police, Tyler said.

Tyler refused to say how or why information about those alleged incidents surfaced now, however. "We are not going into any details about the investigation," he said.

Carson was taken into custody without incident and initially held at the Fauquier County Adult Detention Center without bond.

Warrenton attorney Mark Williams, who is representing Carson, said his client maintains his innocence and plans to fight the charges.
Williams said there is no statute of limitations, but that he and his client have their suspicions about why the older charges surfaced now. He did not elaborate.

A closer look

State police agents with the agency's Bureau of Investigation in Culpeper conducted the investigation. Based on their findings, a Fauquier magistrate issued warrants charging Carson.

Warrants filed in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Monday show the indecent liberties charge stemmed from an alleged incident that occurred between January and November 2000.

In that case, he is accused of "knowingly and intentionally" exposing his sexual or genital parts with lascivious intent to someone under age 14 who also was five years younger than him at the time.

The aggravated sexual battery charge stemmed from alleged sexual abuse between January and May, 2001, of someone who was not yet 13 at the time.

Court documents also indicate that the most recent charges resulted from incidents in which Carson allegedly sold, rented or loaned "visual pornography" to a minor between June and December, 2011.

In those cases, Carson is accused of knowingly providing a minor with access to a video game that depicted "sexually explicit [situations] including nudity, sexual conditions or sadomasochistic abuse."

Tyler said Carson has been on administrative leave since Dec. 27, pending the outcome of the criminal investigation.

Cases dismissed

On Jan. 30, dozens of General District Court cases involving arrests made by Carson were summarily waived or finalized.
Some of the cases included arrests made for reckless driving, DWI, and possession of marijuana.

"There came a point in time when it became clear that we could not rely on Trooper Carson as a witness due to the [pending] criminal charges against him," said Commonwealth's Attorney Jim Fisher.

Carson joined the state police in July 2005. Since graduating from the Academy, he has been assigned to the Culpeper Division’s Area 12 Office to patrol in Fauquier County.

1st Sgt. Jeffery Pearson, supervisor at the Area 12 Office also declined to comment on the matter.