WASHINGTON — A Fairfax County, Virginia music teacher facing multiple charges of sex offense against children was caught in an online sting. Ryan Pick thought he was soliciting a 12-year-old girl, when it was really an investigator, court documents say.
As WTOP first reported, Pick faces four charges, including proposing sex to a minor and sex offense with a minor by computer, out of Hanover County, Virginia. The Cameron Elementary School music teacher is on leave without pay during the investigation, Fairfax County Schools spokesman John Torre said.
The sting began July 10, 2018, when an investigator with the Hanover Sheriff’s Department logged onto a chat room site called Omegle posing as a Richmond girl nearing her 13th birthday, according to the affidavit to support arresting Pick. On multiple occasions, he asked the person he thought was a teenage girl to “meet” him on several chat applications known for protecting the anonymity of their users, including Kik. He also asked the teen whether she was “interested in having phone sex.”
Pick, 40, identified himself as a music teacher, a choir director and the married father of two girls after asking for naked photos of the preteen, the documents said. During the online conversation, Pick sent the investigator a link to an explicit video of himself and described actions he wanted to perform on the teen.
The Woodbridge, Virginia, man told the girl he was “being dirty” and pleasuring himself to a photo of her he solicited. The investigator sent a link to an “undercover Dropbox account where the investigator placed a photo obtained by an approved law enforcement source of a young girl wearing clothes,” he wrote. Pick responded, in part, “I wish I could see parts of you naked,” it said.
The following day, the investigator contacted the office of Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, as well as officers with the Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force. Regional and federal child crimes task forces began investigating Pick, charging him with the four counts.
Scott Beck, the pastor of Saint Paul United Methodist Church, in Woodbridge, confirmed to WTOP that he dismissed Pick from his position leading the choir after learning from Pick’s family he was facing charges of inappropriate behavior with children.
