YouTuber Christine Chandler arrested on suspicion of incest
Christine Chandler, the YouTuber known as Chris Chan (Twitter/@CPU_CWCSonichu)
Christine Weston Chandler, the YouTuber known as Chris Chan, has been arrested on suspicion of incest.
Warning: the content in this article may be upsetting to some readers.
Chandler, 39, founder of the Sonichu and Rosechu web comics, is being held in the Henrico County jail in Virginia.
Police detained the YouTuber, who maintains a channel with 50,000 subscribers, on Sunday (1 August) after a leaked phone conversation spread online. The authenticity of the recording hasn’t been confirmed.
In the eight-minute audio someone purporting to be Chandler tells her friend about having sexual relations with her elderly mother, Barbara, who is believed to have dementia.
The person said to be Chandler begins by stating “the incest fanfics have come true”, before claiming that “we’ve been doing it every third night” since 27 June.
The shocking recording was posted on Kiwi Farms on Friday (30 July) alongside a text said to be from Chandler, which read: “Barb and I just had another romp in the hay.”
The message and audio immediately went viral online, making “Chris Chan” a trending topic on Twitter.
“There is drama in the air today,” Chandler tweeted on Friday. “Each and every one of you all are encouraged to withdraw from any and all dramas, gossip, rumours and whatever else will, and already has, approached your way today.”
This was her final public post before Sunday, when a livestream from the alt-right podcaster Ethan Ralph appeared to show Chandler’s arrest outside a hotel in Charlottesville.
Standing in handcuffs, she told him: “Everything is going to work out.”
Christine Chandler could be charged with a felony
In a press release, the Greene County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that they “received information involving sex crimes against a family member” on Saturday, and an investigation led to an arrest warrant being issued.
Engaging in sexual intercourse with one’s father or mother is a Class 5 felony in Virginia.
Over the past 13 years Chandler, who according to Newsweek came out as trans in 2016, has become well known for her outlandish behaviour offline, which has often piqued the interest of trolls.
In October 2011, she and her mother were arrested after her mother hit the manager of a game store with her car; they paid a fine and underwent community service and a year of probation.
Later in 2014, Chandler was arrested and barred from GameStop after she maced an employee who had asked her to leave. She was charged with assault and given a 180-day suspended jail sentence.
If you have been affected by the issues described in this article, help is available. If you’re in the UK you can contact ISAS (Incest & Sexual Abuse Survivors) or CIS’ters (Childhood Incest Survivors). If you are in the US you can reach out to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN).
