Va. Code § 18.2-374.3: Explained by Sheryl Shane
Allegations that someone used a phone, app, social media platform, gaming chat, or other electronic tool to communicate with a minor can move quickly from an online chat to handcuffs. In Virginia, prosecutors charge these cases under Va. Code § 18.2-374.3, titled Use of communications systems to facilitate certain offenses involving children. The statute is broadly written and the penalties are severe, especially when the Commonwealth claims the child was under 15 and the accused is at least seven years older. If you or a family member was arrested in Prince William County or Arlington County, the case will be prosecuted by the local Commonwealth's Attorney and will move through that county's courts. Early, informed action matters.
Below I explain what the statute covers, what the Commonwealth must prove, the penalties, the investigative tactics I see in Northern Virginia, the defenses that matter, and what to expect in these jurisdictions from first appearance through trial. If your case is in Fairfax County, see my guide to Fairfax computer solicitation charges.
What the Law Actually Prohibits
Virginia targets the use of any communications system to solicit sexual offenses involving minors. "Communications system" is very broad. It includes phones, text messages, email, social media, messaging apps, game consoles and in-game chat, video platforms, and web forums.
The statute contains several separate offenses. The age the accused believed the other person to be, and the nature of the solicitation, drive the charge and the penalty. In plain terms:
- A child under 15. It is a felony for a person 18 or older to use a communications system to solicit, with lascivious intent, a person he or she knows or has reason to believe is under 15 to expose themselves, to engage in sexual touching or sexual acts, or to come to a vehicle, room, house, or other place for those purposes.
- A child 15 to 17. Soliciting the same conduct from a person the accused knows or has reason to believe is 15 to 17 is a felony when the accused is at least seven years older.
- Child pornography and related offenses. Soliciting a minor to take part in producing sexually explicit material, or using a communications system to procure or promote the use of a minor for those purposes, are separate felonies.
- No real child is required. The law reaches cases where the person on the other end is an undercover officer posing as a minor. The question is what the accused knew or had reason to believe about the other person's age.
- No meeting is required. Proposing a sex act by a communications system, or asking a child to come to a place for sexual purposes, is the solicitation itself. The offense can be charged even if no meeting ever occurs.
Because the statute has several subsections and has been amended over time, a sound defense always starts with the exact subsection listed on your warrant or indictment and the date of the alleged conduct.
Elements the Commonwealth Must Prove
To convict under § 18.2-374.3, the Commonwealth generally must establish:
- Use of a communications system. Any device or platform that transmits a message qualifies. Screenshots, platform exports, phone records, and forensic extractions are typical exhibits.
- Lascivious intent. The communication must show a sexual purpose. Courts look at the words used, the context, any attached images, and any request to meet. The Commonwealth will argue intent from the whole conversation, not a single sentence.
- Age belief. The accused must have known or had reason to believe the other person was within the age range charged: under 15, or 15 to 17. In decoy cases, the question is what the conversation gave the accused reason to believe.
- A solicitation. Crude talk or ambiguous flirtation is not enough. The Commonwealth needs an actual request, proposal, or encouragement to engage in the prohibited conduct, or a proposal to meet at a place for that purpose.
Each subsection is worded differently, and those differences matter. The charge on your paperwork tells us which elements the Commonwealth must meet.
Penalties
- Child under 15: a Class 5 felony. If the accused is at least seven years older than the child, the penalty is 5 to 30 years with a 5-year mandatory minimum. A second or subsequent offense with the same age gap carries 10 to 40 years with a 10-year mandatory minimum.
- Child 15 to 17, accused at least seven years older: a Class 5 felony. A second or subsequent offense carries 1 to 20 years with a 1-year mandatory minimum.
- Soliciting a minor for child pornography or other listed offenses: a Class 5 felony.
- Procuring or promoting the use of a minor: a Class 6 felony.
A conviction also brings sex offender registration, including in cases where the "child" was an undercover officer. The Commonwealth may also charge separate counts for separate conversations, and each count carries its own penalty range.
Where Cases Are Prosecuted in Prince William and Arlington
If you were arrested in Prince William County, an adult case begins in the Prince William General District Court in Manassas; a juvenile case begins in the Prince William Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. Felony cases start with a preliminary hearing in district court. If the judge finds probable cause, the case proceeds to the Prince William Circuit Court for grand jury and trial. The Prince William County Commonwealth's Attorney prosecutes, and investigations are usually handled by the Prince William County Police Department or the Manassas or Manassas Park police, often working with a regional internet crimes against children task force.
If you were arrested in Arlington County, the case begins in the Arlington General District Court or the Arlington Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. Felonies proceed to the Arlington Circuit Court after a probable cause finding. The Arlington County Commonwealth's Attorney prosecutes, and the Arlington County Police Department conducts many of the investigations, often with regional task force units.
Both counties follow the same statewide rules of evidence and procedure, but each prosecutor's office has its own approach to early plea offers, amended charges, and registration issues. Knowing those practical differences can matter to the outcome.
How These Cases Are Investigated in Northern Virginia
- Undercover persona operations. An officer poses online as a minor on a mainstream platform, messaging app, or game chat, states an age below the legal threshold, and documents the conversation. If the adult continues, solicits, or proposes a meeting, police escalate. For more on how these investigations are run, see my guide to police sting operations in internet sex crimes.
- Decoy meetings. After messages turn sexual and a meeting is discussed, officers set a location and arrest the person who arrives. Travel is not required for the charge, but the Commonwealth uses it as evidence of intent.
- Forensic imaging of devices. Search warrants for phones, computers, cloud accounts, and social media are common, and examiners extract chats, images, and deleted content. A device search can also lead to separate child pornography charges.
- Recorded follow-up communications. After initial contact, officers sometimes arrange calls or messages to confirm identity or intent.
- Emphasis on belief rather than reality. Because the statute turns on what the accused knew or had reason to believe, police document every age statement in the chat.
Defenses That Often Matter
Every case turns on its specific facts. That said, several defense themes recur.
Ambiguity and Intent
Lascivious intent is an element. If the messages are ambiguous, joking, non-sexual, or show hesitation, the Commonwealth may struggle to prove intent beyond a reasonable doubt. Tone, emojis, sarcasm, and missing context can mislead. Full transcripts often tell a different story than cropped screenshots.
Age Knowledge and Belief
If the profile or the conversation represented the other person as an adult, or the age statements were vague or contradictory, what the accused had reason to believe is genuinely contestable. A single throwaway age line buried in a long thread is not the same as repeated, clear confirmations.
No Solicitation
Courts distinguish between crude talk and a criminal solicitation. If there was no request to engage in the prohibited conduct and no request to meet for that purpose, a core element is missing.
Refusal and Context
Messages showing that the accused declined, refused to meet, or ended the conversation once age came up bear directly on intent. Timing matters, though: the offense is complete when a solicitation is received, so the full sequence of the conversation must be analyzed carefully.
Overreach in Undercover Tactics
Entrapment is a narrow doctrine in Virginia, but heavy police steering still matters. If officers pushed the sexual content or turned a vague chat into a specific plan, that supports the argument that the criminal idea began with law enforcement rather than the accused.
Device Authorship and Identity
Who actually sent the messages? Shared devices, borrowed phones, hacked accounts, spoofed numbers, and shared Wi-Fi can create reasonable doubt about authorship. The Commonwealth must prove the accused controlled the account and sent the messages.
Suppression of Evidence
Search warrants must be supported by probable cause and limited in scope. Overbroad warrants can be challenged, statements taken in custodial interrogation require Miranda compliance, and stops, detentions, and arrests must meet constitutional standards. Suppressing a phone extraction or a statement can change the course of a case.
Collateral Consequences
Beyond incarceration and probation with strict conditions on contact with minors and internet use, a conviction under § 18.2-374.3 requires placement on the Virginia Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry, which affects housing, employment, licensing, and daily life. These consequences can be as disruptive as the sentence itself, so they must be part of every decision about plea negotiations and trial strategy.
What to Do If You Learn of an Investigation
- Do not talk to police without counsel. Calmly stating that you want a lawyer is the most effective protection you have. You will not talk your way out of a digital case.
- Do not delete or alter data. Deleting can create new criminal exposure and usually fails anyway, because cloud backups and recipient copies exist. Tell your lawyer about every device and account.
- Preserve evidence that helps you. Save full chats, not cropped images. Note dates, times, platforms, and usernames. If someone else used your device, write down who, when, and how.
- Tell your attorney everything. Partial stories hurt defenses. Embarrassing but helpful details need to come out early.
- Avoid all contact with the complaining party or the supposed minor: no messages, calls, posts, or indirect contact.
How Cases Move in Prince William and Arlington
First Appearance and Bond
In General District Court, or Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court for a juvenile, you are advised of the charge and your right to counsel, and bond is addressed if it was not already set.
Preliminary Hearing
For felonies, the judge decides whether there is probable cause to certify the case to Circuit Court. I use this hearing to cross-examine, lock in testimony, and probe weaknesses, especially on intent and age belief.
Indictment and Circuit Court
If the case is certified, a grand jury returns an indictment and discovery expands in Circuit Court. This is where motions to suppress, motions about chats and screenshots, and forensic disputes are litigated.
Negotiations and Trial
Many cases resolve through amended charges or sentencing agreements that address registration and supervision conditions. If the case goes to trial, the Commonwealth must prove every element beyond a reasonable doubt to a judge or jury.
Evidence Issues That Can Make or Break the Case
- Chat authenticity and integrity. Screenshots can mislead or be altered. I push for original platform exports with metadata, server logs, and phone extractions that show creation times, edits, and deletions. Chain of custody matters.
- Undercover age statements. Exactly when and how did the persona state an age? Was it clear and repeated, or vague and buried? Were there contradictions?
- Forensic scope. Did the warrant authorize what detectives searched? If examiners went beyond its scope, key evidence may be suppressed.
- Completeness of communications. Short snippets can sound terrible. Full threads sometimes show reluctance, refusal, or a non-sexual context.
- Device ownership and access. Shared devices, family plans, borrowed phones, and open laptops are common. IP and subscriber data point to a location, not a person.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it a defense that there was no real child?
Not by itself. The statute turns on what you knew or had reason to believe about the other person's age, which is why undercover operations can support these charges. The mandatory minimums and registration apply the same way.
What if I never showed up to meet?
You can still be charged based on the messages alone. Asking someone to come to a place for sexual purposes is part of the solicitation itself, so no meeting or travel is required.
Will I have to register as a sex offender if I am convicted?
Yes. A conviction under § 18.2-374.3 requires sex offender registration. That consequence must be analyzed before agreeing to any plea.
Can I argue entrapment?
Virginia's entrapment standard is narrow, but aggressive police steering still matters to intent. Courts ask whether the criminal idea originated with you or with law enforcement. Even where entrapment does not apply, overreach can weaken the prosecution's case.
What if I thought the person was an adult because of their profile?
Age belief is a fact question. If the chat shows clear statements of an age under the threshold that you acknowledged, the Commonwealth will argue belief was proven. If the age statements were unclear or contradicted, the defense has room to work.
Why Early Counsel Helps
Knowing how Prince William and Arlington detectives structure stings, how each Commonwealth's Attorney's office approaches plea terms that affect registration and supervision, and how the local courts view suppression disputes can change outcomes. Moving quickly allows the defense to lock in helpful testimony at the preliminary hearing, challenge overbroad warrants, obtain complete platform records, negotiate charge reductions tied to specific subsections, and prepare a trial strategy focused on intent, belief, authorship, and the absence of a true solicitation.
Bottom Line
Va. Code § 18.2-374.3 is one of the most aggressively enforced internet-related statutes in Virginia, and it is highly technical, with multiple subsections, age thresholds, and mandatory minimums. The Commonwealth often builds these cases around chat snippets, screenshots, and decoy setups. Those same materials can create reasonable doubt when they are evaluated completely and fairly.
If you are under investigation or have been charged in Prince William County or Arlington County, do not guess about your options and do not talk to the police without counsel. Call me for a confidential case review: I will examine the exact subsection charged, the messages, any device searches, and the path forward in court.
By Sheryl Shane, Virginia Criminal Attorney. She has more than 31 years of criminal defense experience and personally handles every case she takes, from the first consultation through final resolution. For the full picture of how these charges are defended, see her sex crimes defense overview.
Sheryl Shane
Virginia Criminal Attorney
4015 Chain Bridge Road
Fairfax, VA 22030
(703) 582-8119
This post is attorney advertising and provides general information about Virginia law; it is not legal advice for any specific situation. Reading it or contacting Virginia Criminal Attorney does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome in any future case. Court procedures and addresses change, so consult an attorney for current information. This post was written and reviewed by Attorney Sheryl Shane and reflects Virginia law current through the 2026 Special Session I. Updated October 2026.
