GEORGETOWN TWP., MI (WHTC) – A Jamestown Township couple has been formally charged on felony counts stemming from alleged soliciting of minors for sex acts.
Anuj and Leslie Chopra appeared on Wednesday before Hudsonville District Court Judge Judy Mulder. The 41-year-old Mr. Chopra, charged with human trafficking, had his bond raised to 250 thousand dollars at the request of the Ottawa County Prosecutor’s Office, who claimed that the green card-holding citizen of India is a flight risk. Judge Mulder was also told that he may be involved in a separate fraud case currently under investigation in neighboring Grandville, and ordered Chopra to surrender his passport.
The 42-year-old Mrs. Chopra faces related counts of distributing sexually explicit materials to minors and using a computer to commit a crime.
Authorities allege that the couple had tried to entice unnamed teens in Jamestown Township and in Hudsonville, through their own 16-year-old daughter, into sexual activity for money. The Chopras were arrested about three weeks ago after a parent of one of the targeted youths reported some “concerning behavior” about the couple to Sheriff’s detectives.
The couple remain free on bond, with conditions, pending a preliminary hearing at a date yet to be specified by court officials.