Chris Chan Incest Charge May Not Stick
The Claim
Chris Chan's recent arrest for incest will not lead to conviction.
News posted on
Emerging story
On Sunday, August 1, 39-year-old internet personality Chris Chan was arrested on an incest charge following the release of an audio recording allegedly depicting Chan admitting to having sex with her 80-year-old mother. Social media users began discussing whether or not the incest charges will stick.
Misbar’s Analysis
Chan, whose legal name is Christine Weston Chandler, is known as the creator of Sonichu, a cross between Sonic the Hedehog and Pikachu. Chan is no stranger to arrests: in 2011, she and her mother were arrested after hitting someone with their car, and in 2014, Chan was arrested after macing a GameStop employee.
Chan’s most recent arrest was caught on film in Charlottesville, VA.
She is being held in Henrico County Jail.
Misbar’s investigation found that Virginia law states that, “Any person who engages in sexual intercourse with his daughter or granddaughter, son or grandson, or father or mother is guilty of a Class 5 felony.”
Strangely, Chan's inmate detail page has the charge description as “incest w/own child or grandchild,” possibly because of the language of the statute. Many on social media have focused on the “his” language used. Chan is a transgender woman who legally changed her gender in 2016. Virginia law has recently taken a more progressive stance on transgender rights, meaning that Chan should be recognized as a woman in court.
Since Virginia law does not seem to include mother-daughter sexual relationships, it is possible that the incest charge will not stick. For now, we rate this as suspicious.
