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- Christine Weston Chandler, known online as Chris Chan, was arrested on a charge of incest.
- On Friday, a call leaked online in which Chandler appeared to admit to having sex with her mother.
- Chandler has a long, complicated online history fueled by trolls.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Christian Weston Chandler, known online as Chris Chan, has been arrested and charged with incest after a leaked phone conversation spread online.
Chandler, 39, is currently being held in the Henrico County Jail after being brought in by police on Sunday afternoon. No court date or bond has been set, according to a representative for the jail. Her arraignment will be in Greene County, Virginia, according to Newsweek.
In a Facebook post, the Greene County Sheriff's office that "this is an ongoing investigation with additional charges pending."
The arrest comes after an eight-minute recording was posted to Kiwi Farms, a forum dedicated to chronicling and discussing internet figures that began as a way to chronicle Chandler's online presence in 2013, on Friday morning. In the recording of an alleged phone call, someone purported to be Chandler discusses sexual interactions she had with her 79-year-old mother, Barbara.
Chandler has been known in niche online spaces for decades as the creator of Soniichu, an animated character crossed between Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog. Online discussion around Chandler and the Soniichu began around 2000, but the wider internet didn't start to take note of her online persona until 2007.
For years, Chandler has been the target of online scrutiny and trolling. Several internet denizens have made online profiles pretending to be Chandler's friends or girlfriends and leaked intimate and personal details about her.
Engaging in sexual intercourse with a father or mother is a Class 5 felony in Virginia.
Chandler did not respond to requests for comment.
Leaked audio spread online alleging Chandler had sex with her mother
In the audio that included a voice that purportedly belonged to Chandler, the creator said that since June, "we've been doing it every third night," describing sex acts in detail.
Leaked texts appeared alongside those calls, with messages purportedly from Chandler claiming, "Barb and I just had another romp in the hay."
Hours after the call and messages went online, they started to spread like wildfire. Later on Friday, "Chris Chan" was a trending topic on Twitter.
"There is drama in the air today," Chandler wrote in a tweet. "Each and every one of you all are encouraged to withdraw from any and all dramas, gossip, rumors, and whatever else will, and already has, approached your way today."
On Sunday, footage live-streamed by alt-right podcaster Ethan Ralph on YouTube appeared to show Chandler's arrest outside of a hotel in Charlottesville, Virginia. While it appeared that Chandler was in handcuffs, she told Ralph, "everything is going to work out."
In October 2011, Chandler and her mother were arrested after Barbara hit a local game store manager with her car, leading them to pay a fine and undergo community service and a year of probation. In 2014, Chandler was arrested after an incident at a Gamestop store where she maced an employee who asked her to leave. She was banned from ever entering a Gamestop store again.
Read more stories from Insider's Digital Culture desk here.
