In November 2005, a 20-year-old Centreville man was among 10 people arrested following an online, sexual-predator sting conducted by the Northern Virginia-D.C. Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.
AND NOW the case against that man — Vikram Jeet Singh Bajwa of 5905 Spruce Run Court in Little Rocky Run — is moving forward in the legal system. He's accused of using a communications system to facilitate certain offenses involving children.
His arrest came after an 18-day, online investigative operation orchestrated by 17 specially trained investigators from the Alexandria, Arlington, D.C.-Metropolitan, Fairfax County, George Mason University, Manassas Park and Prince William County police departments.
Virginia State Police and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) also participated. Investigators assumed the online profile of a pre-adolescent teen-ager and visited common teen chat rooms.
Conducted at the ICE Cyber Center Headquarters in Fairfax County, the operation began Oct. 31 and ended Nov. 10. The task force's ongoing goal is to tackle the proliferation of child exploitation, pornography and predators via the Internet.
On Nov. 7, Special Agent Christopher J. McClure wrote an affidavit for a search warrant so he could seize and then examine Bajwa's computer. In that document, McClure — assigned to the State Police's Criminal Investigation Division — presented details of the case against him.
He identified himself as a member of the ICAC task force and wrote about a Prince William County detective, also on the task force, who allegedly encountered Bajwa while using a screen name through Yahoo Chat.
Via that name, the detective claimed to be a 14-year-old girl living in Woodbridge. McClure stated that, on Oct. 28, around 11:30 a.m., he observed the detective chatting online with someone with the screen name of juzblaze703.
"The subject proposed sexual acts, believing that he was in conversation with a 14-year-old girl," wrote McClure. He also alleged that Bajwa asked the "girl" if she would engage in oral sex with him.
"During the chat, I observed juzblaze703 send an invite to view his web cam," wrote McClure. He noted that he watched the detective open the cam and that he then saw Bajwa reportedly "show his penis and masturbate" on that web cam.
Afterward, authorities contacted Yahoo and then Cox Communications to learn the subscriber information for juzblaze703. And according to McClure, it came back as belonging to someone at Bajwa's home address. From there, they were allegedly able to determine that Bajwa was the person they were after.
MCCLURE EXECUTED the search warrant, Nov. 8, at Bajwa's home, confiscating a Dell Dimension computer tower, a Kodak Easy Share camera with memory card, a USB adaptor for a web cam, a wireless router and a cable modem. Bajwa was charged that same day.
His court case was continued a few times; but last Tuesday, Aug. 1, he appeared in General District Court before Judge Mark Simmons. And at that time, the judge certified the case against Bajwa to the grand jury for possible indictment.