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John R. Raff, 42, of Perryville, MD, was arrested in Maryland in 2014 and extradited to Virginia for an ongoing NOVA-DC ICAC Task Force investigation, the Virginia State Police said.
Raff had attempted to solicit a Virginia State Police agent whom he believed was a minor, a spokesman for the VSP said.
Following his arrest in 2014, Raff posted bond and fled to the Arab Republic of Egypt, police said. The Rockingham Commonwealth’s Attorney's Office and Virginia State Police, along with the U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, INTERPOL, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, and Egyptian authorities, were able to track him down and extradite him to the U.S., authorities said.
In 2023, Raff pleaded guilty to three felony counts of Use of a Communications Systems to Facilitate Certain Offenses Involving Children (Code of VA 18.2-374.3) and three counts of Failure to Appear in court. He was sentenced in Rockingham County Circuit Court March 1, 2024.
Raff was sentenced to 75 years in prison, with 36 years suspended, the Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (NOVA-DC ICAC) and the Rockingham County Commonwealth's Attorney said on Tuesday, March 5.
"This case should send a clear message to criminals who think they can flee justice," said Rockingham County Senior Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Alycia Eldridge.
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