East Coast Man Accused of ‘Grooming’ Minnesota Girl Gets 16 Years

St. Paul, MN (KROC-AM News) - An East Coast man has been sent to federal prison in a sextortion and child pornography case.

A news release issued by the US Attorney for Minnesota says 42-year-old Raymond Jung Woo Choi, also known as Jason Lee, of Centerville Virginia was accused of traveling to Minnesota last year in an attempt to meet a juvenile girl he had groomed online. The news release indicates his efforts were thwarted due to family and law enforcement efforts and be flew back to his home.

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The charges brought against him in federal court accused him of engaging in sexually-focused conversations with the 13-14-year-old girl. It was alleged that he knowingly enticed and coerced the victim to send him sexually explicit images and videos via Instagram. The news release also states that he groomed and enticed the girl by sending her gifts through Amazon or the U.S. Postal Service.

Choi earlier entered a guilty plea to one count of production of child pornography. He has now been sentenced to 16 years in prison followed by 20 years of supervised release.

The prosecution of Choi was the result of an investigation by the Anoka County Sheriff's Office and US Postal Inspection Service through Project Safe Childhood, which is a nationwide initiative to combat child sexual exploitation.

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