Using the dating app Grindr, a Navy petty officer allegedly wooed a 13-year-old boy to Naval Submarine Base New London and had sex with him in the barracks six days before Christmas, Connecticut authorities say.
Cryptologic Technician (Maintenance) 3rd Class Chazzman Kealiiokapapaku Chung, 28, turned himself in to the Connecticut State Police on Tuesday after a warrant charging him with risk of injury to a child and enticing a minor by computer was issued.
Chung was released on a $100,000 surety bond and is scheduled to appear at a 9 a.m. hearing on April 18 in Norwich Superior Court, according to his arrest report.
Troopers from Troop E in Montville began investigating Chung on Dec. 20 after receiving a call from the boy’s mother in nearby Griswold, according to the police report.
The mother reported that her son had engaged in sex with an older man while the teen was home sick from school, authorities wrote.
Investigators concluded the probe on Valentine’s Day, when Chung allegedly confessed to cultivating a relationship with the boy on Grindr, retrieving him from his home and bringing him to the barracks in Groton.
“Chung admitted to sexually assaulting the victim in his barracks room, then returning him to his Griswold residence shortly thereafter,” the report stated.
Troopers and Eastern District Major Crimes detectives then drafted an arrest warrant that was signed by a New London Superior Court judge and Naval Criminal Investigative Service continued the probe, according to the report.
“NCIS does not comment on ongoing investigations. That’s all we can say,” wrote NCIS spokesman Jeff P. Houston in an email to Navy Times.
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Chung’s case is not listed in online court records, including the daily docket, and it remains unclear if he has a lawyer.
Base officials told Navy Times that he was assigned to Navy Information Operations Detachment Groton.
Watchstanders there referred Navy Times to Hampton Roads-based Naval Information Forces spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Megan Shutka.
Shutka said that Chung continues to report to the command staff of his detachment while out on bail.
“The only thing we can say is that NCIS and the Connecticut State Police are working together on an ongoing investigation and that we, as a Navy, take allegations of this nature very seriously," she said.
Originally from Hawaii, Chung enlisted in the Navy in 2014, according to his military records. He was advanced to third class petty officer on Sept. 16, 2015.
He reported to the Cryptologic Warfare Group-6 Detachment in Groton on May 29 after a three-year stint with Navy Information Operations Command Hawaii at Oahu’s Schofield Barracks.
