China Native In Delco Being Deported After Lying About Child Porn

DELAWARE COUNTY, PA — A Delaware County man and Chinese national will see prison time and be deported after being convicted of lying about soliciting sex from minors and collecting child pornography during his naturalization process, authorities said.

U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain announced Weixing Chen, 30, of Brookhaven, was sentenced today to 12 months imprisonment and three years supervised release by Judge Paul S. Diamond.

Chen pleaded guilty on December 5, 2018 to one count of procuring naturalization unlawfully and two counts of making a false statement in a naturalization proceeding.

Chen will lose his United States citizenship and will be deported to China after he serves his term of imprisonment.

During the filing of his naturalization application and the interview process with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”), Chen deliberately concealed the fact that he was currently soliciting sex from minors and collecting child pornography, authorities said.

He also falsely claimed that he had not committed any crimes prior to applying for naturalization, authorities said.

In reality, before being sworn in as a United States citizen, the defendant was electronically communicating with two individuals whom he believed to be minors in order to have sexual contact with them, according to authorities.

He was convicted of various child exploitation offenses in Delaware County in 2015 after becoming a citizen, authorities said.