Friday, June 12, 2026

Springfield couple who groomed, kidnapped, sexually abused 13-year-old girl sentenced


(From the U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia)

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.


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Justin Johiah Curtright and Christin Marie Curtright, are a couple of sick and perverted pedophiles, who should die in prison! Hopefully the Victim gets the Help she needs to recover and have a better life. Protect your children, know who they are talking to and the subject matter, whether on their computer or phone.

They should have both been given 45-year sentences. We have to STOP, doling out sentences based on gender, with Christin Cutright only getting a 27-year sentence. She was their committed the crimes with her husband, but is receiving 18-years less than he is. Let's hold all Criminals to the same sentencing policies, not just by gender!

The same holds true for juveniles, if they commit heinous crimes, they need to be held accountable as an Adult and given similar sentences. Let's STOP being SOFT ON CRIME AND CRIMINALS.

Anonymous said...

A federal conviction for child sex crimes is serious, as are their sentences.

The same can't always be said for local area sex child sex offenders, who sometimes are blessed by the judges and prosecutoirs with a stay out of prison sentence.

Hopefully these two child predators don't get a Trump pardon.

Anonymous said...

Hang em high don’t waste taxpayer money

Anonymous said...

You think this is bad, now imagine what goes on behind the people in power's doors. The people that can literally get away with murder, who have 7 ways to Sunday to make any problem "disappear"...
From politicians, to billionaires, to hollywood producers.
Now imagine there were thousands upon thousands of photos, videos, etc that show these people sexually abusing underage children, all gathered by US intelligence agencies, making world wide news, and nothing comes from it. They're all still getting away with it.
This is us right now, we're living in this reality, and everyone is too brainwashed, fat and drugged up to do anything about it.