On Thursday, a Virginia judge ordered internet personality Chris Chan to remain jailed without bond amid allegations that she sexually abused her elderly mother, who reportedly has dementia.
According to The Daily Progress, prosecutor Edwin Consolvo asked Greene County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court to keep Chris Chan, whose legal name is Christine Weston Chandler, 39, in custody for her and the community’s safety. While Chandler was provided the chance to summarize a release plan, she instead talked about retrieving her personal items.
Chandler was arrested on incest charges on Sunday in Henrico County. Chandler’s case was moved from Greene County General District Court to Greene County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court due to the nature of the charges against her.
(NOTE: Chandler identifies as a transwoman and uses she/her pronouns. Amid the heated debate surrounding Chandler’s gender identity, Crime Online will use she/her pronouns in accordance with officials’ statements, court documents, and local media reports.)
According to The Daily Progress, Chandler interrupted Judge David M. Barredo to tell him to use “she” when referring to her. Barredo explained he was reading the statute for bond verbatim, and it uses he/him pronouns.
Chandler reportedly also interrupted Thursday’s hearing to say, “I’m famous on the internet,” as prosecutors explained how the public staked out the Henrico County hotel Chandler was staying at and filmed Sunday’s arrest.
At some point, defense attorney David Heilberg was telling the court that he planned to get an evaluation for Chandler — who then disrupted the hearing yet again to stomp her feet and loudly say she needed “to get everything back home” and that she “won’t feel safe proceeding until” she gets her items, according to The Daily Progress.
As Crime Online previously reported, Chandler was arrested days after audio was posted online in which she was allegedly heard admitting to raping their 80-year-old mother, who has dementia.
***WARNING: The following video includes graphic discussions about incest, which may be disturbing to some. Please use discretion.***
In the 10-minute clip, Chandler is reportedly heard telling an unidentified person about the illicit sexual relationship.
Chandler allegedly claimed she approached the situation with “care and caution” — and that her elderly mother made the first move. Chandler is purportedly also heard saying she had sexual feelings for her mother for some time, and that she had sexual dreams about her in the past.
“She was partially confused at one point, but then she came around obviously,” Chandler is apparently heard saying in the video, referring to one of their early incestual encounters.
“She’s having a good time.”
Chandler allegedly told the unknown person that her elderly mother is enjoying their relationship. Chandler purportedly also stated that she started having sex with her mother because she had no other options.
Authorities have not publicly identified the other person involved in the incest case, but Greene County police described them as a “victim” in a news release.
It is worth noting that Chandler is only charged with incest at this point, not rape. Greene County police said their investigation is ongoing and additional charges may follow.
This is not Chandler’s first brush with the law. Insider reported that in October 2011, Chandler and her mother were arrested after the mother hit a manager of a game center with her car. They were fined and completed community service and a year of probation.
In 2014, Chandler was arrested for macing a Gamestop employee who asked her to leave. Chandler was allegedly asked to leave because she was caught coloring in the arms of a Sonic display that was promoting the release of the video game “Sonic Boom.”
Chandler was first introduced to many as Chris Chan, the creator of Sonichu, a fictional webcomic that borrows inspiration from Sonic the Hedgehog and Pikachu from the Pokemon series. Chris, who has claimed in videos that she has “high-functioning autism” (a term considered antiquated by many advocates in addition to emerging research) has been the target of countless doxing and trolling campaigns.
For decades, Chandler’s life has essentially unfolded for the world to see — and, at some points, to manipulate. From an entire Wiki page that painstakingly chronicles the native Virginian’s minutest details— including what outfit he wore in a vlog — to an ongoing YouTube documentary series that is on its 59th installment, Chris Chan is a product and indictment of the Internet.
Chandler is due back in court on September 16.
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[Featured image: Christine Chandler/Greene County police]
