Missouri Couple Sentenced for Abducting and Sexually Abusing 13-Year-Old They Groomed Online

ROANOKE, Va. - A married couple was sentenced today to lengthy prison terms for grooming a teenager online before picking her up in Virginia and repeatedly sexually abusing her as they drove back to their apartment in Missouri.

Justin Johiah Curtright, 41, was sentenced today to 45 years in federal prison. His wife, Christin Marie Curtright, 33, was sentenced to 27 years. The Curtrights, of Springfield, Missouri, pled guilty in 2025 to sexual exploitation of a minor and transportation of a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

"This Office is committed to seeking maximum accountability against predators who target our children online or through other means. This sentence should send a clear message to those who exploit our children: you will be identified by law enforcement and prosecuted to the full extent of the law by the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Virginia," said First Assistant United States Attorney Robert N. Tracci. "I wish to thank the Springfield, Missouri Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation their outstanding work bringing these predators to justice."

According to court documents, in 2024 Justin Curtright first contacted the minor victim on Discord, an online video chatting platform. Justin later introduced the victim to his wife, and from that point, the three talked extensively, both online and by phone. As encouraged by Justin, the victim's family did not know about her contact with the Curtrights.

The Curtrights also engaged in sexually explicit acts on camera while video chatting with the victim and urged her to do the same. Justin would frequently pretend to be the victim's father.

After weeks of planning, in the summer of 2024, the Curtrights met the victim near her home in Virginia. The victim got into the Curtrights' van, and they drove her back to Missouri. While on the road, the Curtrights took turns sexually abusing the victim in the back of the van. Once they reached their apartment, they continued their sexual exploitation of the victim for several more days.

Days later, officers with the Springfield Police Department went to the Curtrights' apartment, where they found the victim hiding in the back of a closet in the Curtrights' bedroom. The victim had an ID card that Justin Curtright gave her, which falsely represented her as Justin's daughter.

Springfield officers seized the Curtrights' phones, which held video and images of the victim's online sexual exploitation, as well as images of the victim being abused during the drive to Missouri.

Investigators later obtained extensive Discord chat logs, which revealed how the Curtrights doggedly groomed and manipulated the victim. The chat logs also showed that Justin was actively seeking and sexually exploiting other children online. Justin told his wife that he had a fantasy of sexually abusing a teenaged runaway.

First Assistant United States Attorney Robert N. Tracci and Ian Kaufmann, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Richmond Division, made the announcement.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Springfield Police Department, and various local law enforcement agencies investigated the case.

Assistant United States Attorneys Drew O. Inman and Lee S. Brett prosecuted the case for the United States.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the DOJ's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identity and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.projectsafechildhood.gov/Links to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link..