CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. — Chesterfield Commonwealth's Attorney Stacey Davenport announced Thursday morning she intends to move the court to appoint a special prosecutor to decide if the case involving Virginia Beach pastor John Blanchard, who was arrestedin a 2021 prostitution sting, should move forward after she.
Davenport said she decided to do this after new information related to the case was provided to her office "less than 48 hours" before her announcement.
Blanchard was one of 17 people arrested in the prostitution sting that took place in October of 2021. Chesterfield Police Chief Jeffrey Katz said the suspects were soliciting sex from minors after communicating with individuals they believed to be underage and then meeting them at a location for sexual relations. The "minors" were actually undercover detectives.
Investigative files released to CBS 6 through a Freedom of Information Act request showed Blanchard first made contact with the "minor" through a known sex-worker website. According to police records, an ad on the website indicated a 19-year-old was available for sexual favors. Prices were listed.
In text messages between Blanchard and the undercover investigator, Blanchard requested a "qv" which police said means "quick visit" among sex workers.
Less than an hour before Blanchard said he arrived to meet the subject, the undercover cop texted, "ok im 17 if thats not cool i get it." Blanchard did not acknowledge the subject’s age in texts but continued engaging in conversation.
Police charged Blanchard with solicitation of prostitution from a minor 16 or older and using a vehicle to promote prostitution or unlawful sex.
But Davenport's office eventually dropped the charges against Blanchard. Davenport ruled the case nolle prosequi, meaning she did not believe there was sufficient evidence to find Blanchard guilty.
In January, Blanchard's attorney filed to have criminal records expunged. Davenport did not oppose the motion to seal the records, but Chief Katz took issue with it on social media,calling it "bewildering."
"I believe a jury of Chesterfield County residents deserves to weigh in on the matter of criminal culpability," Katz said in a statement. "The decision to nolle prosse this case has made such a deliberation impossible. But I want to be clear; this is NOT due to a lack of evidence or a substandard investigation. We know what we are doing, we do it very well, and we will continue to proceed with such investigations in the future."
Katz then called on Davenport to provide a public explanation of her decision to dismiss the charges against Blanchard.
"Despite numerous convictions on cases with similar - and in some cases less compelling evidence - we have not been given any guidance as to where this investigation fell short of prosecutorial expectations. Moreover, the public has not been provided an explanation," Katz said.
The public thought that explanation might come during Thursday's press conference from Davenport. Instead, she read the following statement without taking any questions:
"As a result of new information related to the case against John Blanchard that was provided to my office less than 48 hours ago, I intend to move the court to appoint a special prosecutor to determine whether this case should now be prosecuted. Due to the repeated public comments, and unfounded political attacks levied upon my office by both Chesterfield County Police Chief Jeffrey Katz and delegate Tim Anderson, I cannot ethically make any decisions on whether or not this new information should impact future prosecutorial decisions in this matter. Because this may once again become a future pending criminal case. I cannot make any further comments on the facts or the circumstances surrounding anything related to this matter. Thank you."
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