ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A federal grand jury has indicted a Springfield man with attempted coercion and enticement of a minor, and receipt, distribution, possession, and transportation of child pornography.
Monis Irfan, 21, was an instructional assistant and substitute elementary school teacher for Fairfax County Public Schools when he was arrested in February in a undercover police sting operation.
According to Fairfax County police, an undercover detective from its Child Exploitation Unit communicated with Irfan on a social networking site. Police said Irfan offered to meet the detective and provide sexually explicit images of children in return for access to a child under the age of 13. Police said Irfan believed he would have sexual relations with the (ficitious) child.
Irfan was arrested upon meeting the detective and was charged with two counts of solicitation of a minor, one count of attempted human trafficking and one count of attempted forcible sodomy.
After Irfan’s arrest, detectives learned he was an instructional assistant and substitute at Bush Hill Elementary School in the Alexandria area of Fairfax County.
The alleged crimes happened between January and February 2019. The indictment further alleges that in 2018 and 2019, Irfan traded, transported, and possessed child pornography using a cell phone and personal laptop computer.
If convicted of all charges, Irfan could face 35 years in prison.
Fairfax County Police brought the case to the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force for federal investigation. The case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, click here.
