Sex crime allegations, especially those involving minors, carry severe penalties that can impact every aspect of a person’s life.
Crimes against children, such as online solicitation, are aggressively prosecuted and often involve complex digital evidence. For those accused, hiring a top-rated criminal attorney is a must to ensure their rights are protected and that they receive a fair defense.
Now, let’s examine a recent case involving a former Houston man charged with online solicitation.
A former Houston man has been charged in New York with online solicitation of sexually explicit images of children.
According to the New York Times, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said Winston Nguyen, 38, was charged with almost a dozen felony counts after posing as a teenage boy on Snapchat and soliciting sexual photos and videos from students at Saint Ann’s, a Brooklyn private school, and other elite local schools.
In a press release, the DA’s office said the charges included use of a child in a sexual performance, promoting a sexual performance by a child, first-degree disseminating indecent material to minors, third-degree conspiracy, third-degree criminal solicitation and endangering the welfare of a child.
The Times said Nguyen is accused of using Snapchat to pretend to be a student at least 11 times between October 2022 and May 2024. The DA’s office alleged that he reportedly sent messages to five girls and one boy, all between the ages of 13 and 15.
In New York, as in Texas, statutes hold that a child is a person who is under 18 years of age. Punishments for sex crimes in both states are worse when the crime involves children or minors.
The DA’s office said the students with whom Nguyen exchanged messages all attended elite private schools in the Brooklyn area, including St. Ann’s, where he was hired in 2020. He had worked there as a middle school and high school math teacher until he was dismissed after his arrest in June.
Gonzalez said Nguyen allegedly posed as a peer to coax teenagers to send him sexually explicit images of themselves, which he then allegedly distributed. “The fact that he was a teacher and a trusted figure among students makes these allegations even more troubling,” Gonzalez said.
Tuition at St. Ann’s is around $60,000 per year, and many students are the children of wealthy and famed New York residents. St. Ann’s Alumni include actress Jennifer Connelly, artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, fashion designer Zac Posen and Maya Hawke, daughter of actress Uma Thurman and Texas-born actor Ethan Hawke.
Nguyen was arrested near the school last spring and then charged. In court recently, a prosecutor said a plea deal was in the works.
Four years earlier, Nguyen had been arrested and charged with grand larceny and other offenses for siphoning $300,000 from an elderly Park Avenue couple whom he’d been assisting as an aide.
He pleaded guilty to grand larceny and other charges. As punishment, he was ordered to pay over $300,000 in restitution and served about four months in jail at Rikers Island.
St. Ann’s hired him despite knowledge of these crimes, which it had gained in a background check. The school is now under fire for having done so.
Also, earlier in 2024, Nguyen won the TV game show Jeopardy!, winning more than $11,000 over the course of two episodes, reports People magazine.
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Nguyen attended an elite Houston high school
The Times said those who knew Nguyen before he arrived at Saint Ann’s in Brooklyn have struggled to reconcile the younger person they knew in Houston with the man who faces serious legal charges in New York.
A child of Vietnamese immigrants, Nguyen received financial aid to attend Episcopal High School, an elite private school in Houston’s upscale Bellaire community. (Tuition is normally about $35,000 per year, the Times said.)
There, he was a go-getter much like the aggressively active main character of the Houston-set film Rushmore, whose fictional Rushmore Academy was patterned after—and filmed at–Houston’s elite St. John’s School.
The Times said Nguyen was an effective organizer and a showboat who drew attention to himself. He steadily volunteered for school projects, dressed in a button-down shirt and blazer and was “an aggressive joiner,” joining art club, math club, Latin club and discipline council. He also was elected class president in his freshman year.
Yet classmates said he tried to keep his school life and home life separate. He didn’t speak of his immigrant family, and his parents didn’t attend school events.
The Times said Nguyen was also deeply involved in Students of Service, an organization devoted to molding young community leaders. Soon after graduating in 2005, he was named Volunteer of the Year by then-Houston Mayor Bill White.
Later he went to New York to attend Columbia University and then pursue a career in academics.
Online solicitation of a minor is a serious charge in Texas
Online solicitation of a minor is a serious criminal charge in Texas which can lead to severe penalties.
As a second-degree felony, it can bring punishments of 2 to 20 years in state prison and a fine of as much as $10,000. Those convicted of the offense in Texas also must register as a sex offender for 10 years upon release from prison.
The crime also can bring a federal charge, for which punishments include up to 10 years in federal prison.
Many people have been arrested for online solicitation of a minor as part of massive law enforcement “sting” operations. These stings often catch alleged offenders in the widely cast nets of undercover law officers.
But not all such alleged offenders are guilty. And anyone facing such a charge is legally entitled to due process and their day in court with help from a knowledgeable Internet sex crime defense lawyer.
Indeed, there are many legal defenses for online solicitation of a minor, including the assertion that the defendant had “unintentional” or “accidental” possession of sexual images.
A skilled sex crime defense attorney also may be able to establish that law enforcement authorities made an illegal search or arrest, thus violating a defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights under the United States Constitution.
Depending on the circumstances of the case, an experienced Houston-area criminal defense lawyer may also be able to assert that evidence was illegally seized and thus cannot be used against a defendant.
Another defense against online solicitation of a minor is to argue that the defendant was coerced or “entrapped” by police to commit a crime that they would not have committed otherwise.
Get a skilled Houston area defense attorney
If you or a family member are facing serious charges, it is essential to have a skilled Houston-area defense attorney fighting to protect your legal rights and pursue the best possible outcome for your case. These types of criminal cases require experienced legal representation to navigate the complexities of the law and build a strong defense.
Residents of Houston, Sugar Land, The Woodlands, Katy, Conroe, or anywhere in Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, or Galveston counties can rely on the Neal Davis Law Firm for dedicated legal support.
If you’re searching for a trusted Houston or Galveston criminal attorney serving the state of Texas, we’re here to help.
