Charlottesville man charged with solicitation of minors

On Wednesday, November 9, 2022, Front Royal Police detectives initiated an investigation regarding the solicitation of minors in the Warren County/Front Royal area. Detectives started a proactive approach to apprehend individuals soliciting underage victims for sexual purposes.

An undercover operation ensued, and an adult male began soliciting one of our detectives, who he believed to be a female under the age of 15 years old, for photographs and sexually explicit material. The adult male suspect sent sexually explicit materials to the detective, who was posing in an undercover capacity as a juvenile. Some of the material sent by the offender was Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM). The initial conversation was unsolicited and started by the offender in this case.

During the investigation, a designated meeting place was arranged within the Town of Front Royal, and the male traveled and met the undercover detectives posing as a juvenile female for lascivious intent.

AVERY WOOD

Through the course of this investigation, police identified the suspect as 53-year-old Charlottesville, VA, resident Avery Wood. After meeting with the detectives, Wood was arrested on November 22, 2022, and transported to the Rappahannock Shenandoah Warren (RSW) Regional Jail. Wood went before the magistrate and was ordered to be held without bond. The court date for the listed offenses has been set for December 15, 2022, at 09:00 a.m. in Warren County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

The Front Royal Police Department is an active member of the Northern Virginia/DC Metro (NOVA/DC) Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, which is coordinated by the Virginia State Police. We request anyone with information regarding the solicitation or exploitation of a minor contact Front Royal Police Department. Anyone with further information regarding this case, please contact Detective M.R. Ramey at (540) 636-2208 or by email at mramey@frontroyalva.com.

The Front Royal Police Department would like to thank the Frederick and Warren County Sheriff’s Offices for their assistance with this investigation and the successful apprehension of this individual.