A timeline of Chris Chan's incest charge and dismissal, which came after years of online trolling that documented the creator's relationship with her mother

Christine Chandler, who is also known online as Chris Chan, was arrested on August 1, 2021, and charged with incest after a leaked phone call revealed she may have had sexual relations with her 79-year-old mother.

The life of Chandler and, by extension, her mother, has been extensively documented since 2007, when users on the fringe chat forum 4chan caught wind of her comic, Sonichu, a cross between Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog. 

Since then, trolls have been tracking Chandler's digital footprint as well as her movements in real life through filming, doxxing, hacking, and in some cases, even impersonating potential partners.

The extensive knowledge trolls have of Chandler and her mother has been recorded on a dedicated Wiki, CWCki, since 2009. Covert trolls often contacted her to leak their conversation on forums like Kiwi Farms, which is believed to have been the intention of the person who had the alleged phone call with Chandler.

In a statement provided to Business Insider, Chandler's attorney, David Heilberg, cautioned people not to believe everything they read on internet forums. 

"Ms. Chandler's frequent and sometimes over the top presence on the internet is partly a product of mental health issues causing misguided attention seeking and often provocative engagement with others," the statement said. 

Here's a timeline of the allegations, which began years ago with rumors spread by trolls on internet forums.

As Chandler has said online in the past, she has lived alone with her mother since her father died in 2011.

Trolls who followed Chandler's life on CWCki and later on Kiwi Farms repeatedly questioned Chandler's relationship with her mother. Several threads on Kiwi Farms and articles on CWCki ridiculed Chandler for referring to her mother with pet names like "darling" and "dear."

On October 15, 2015, Chandler and her mother attended a court hearing following an assault Chandler committed on a video game store employee the year before. As was common for many of Chandler's trolls at the time, some of them attended the hearing in person in order to report back to CWCki. 

One such alleged attendee was a Chandler troll called "Marvin," otherwise known as the "Man in the Pickle Suit," who then posted observations about Chandler and her mother's interactions during the hearing. Marvin runs the CWCki database of Chandler information (which still exists separately from Kiwi Farms, the forum originally derived from the CWCki forum) but has kept his real identity private. 

The following year, in August 2016, Chandler wrote a Facebook status defending a mother and son in Mexico who reportedly said they were in love, which the Daily Mail reported at the time. 

"Although incest is quite a controversial topic, there are circumstances where there would be not so much harm as one may think, feel or believe," she said.

"Unless the sex act was abusive, hurtful, or would result in an unwanted birth of a physical or mental challenged child, I would not judge or persecute the parent and child."

Chandler wrote that she herself had "dreams of having sex" with her mother, though she never acted on them.

On July 30, 2021, a supposed Kiwi Farms user leaked a nine-minute phone call and a series of screenshots that they claimed came from a conversation they had with Chandler, with the user pretending to be a woman called "Bella." The screenshots and phone call recording were later circulated by Kiwi Farms owner Joshua Moon, who goes by Null online and went viral on Reddit. Although it is believed that the call was made by one troll posing as "Bella," this hasn't been verified.

In the recording, a person purported to be Chandler gave graphic information about alleged assaults on her 79-year-old mother, saying that it had been occurring three times a week since late June.

The text messages also referenced Chandler's mother having "memory problems."

That same day, the leaked phone call and text messages went viral on social media, with Chandler beginning to trend globally on Twitter.

YouTuber Dillin Thomas, who had made content on Chandler in the past, later posted screenshots from a conversation they said they had with Chandler, where Chandler appears to confirm the allegations. 

Chandler later tweeted: "There is drama in the air today. 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." 

YouTuber Ethan Ralph, a podcast host associated with the alt-right and the Gamergate movement, livestreamed Chandler's arrest outside a Virginia hotel.

In the video, Chandler can be heard saying to Ralph: "Everything is going to be all right."

The Greene County Sheriff's Office in Virginia said in a statement on Monday that Chandler was charged with one count of incest.

The press release also said Chandler's arrest was part of "an ongoing investigation with additional charges pending."

Engaging in sexual intercourse with one's father or mother is a Class 5 felony in Virginia, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.  

After Chandler was moved to the Central Virginia Regional Jail in Virginia, a jail representative confirmed to BI that the facility had categorized Chandler, a transgender woman, as a male. 

Chandler said in a public 2017 Facebook post that she was a woman, saying that her correct pronoun was "she." She has also spoken about her transition in YouTube videos. According to court records obtained by BI, she legally changed her name to Christine in May 2016. 

As BI reported, Chandler's gender designation on the VINE custody request system, which transmits jail and prison records to the public, was changed from female to male shortly after her arrest. The jail did not give a reason for the change.

"I've had an interaction with inmate Chandler and it's been fine," the jail representative told BI in response to a question about Chandler's well-being. "Everything is okay." 

Chandler was ordered held without bond on August 5, 2021. Judge David M. Barredo reportedly remanded Chandler held without bond until her next scheduled hearing for her safety and that of the public. 

Chandler's case was moved to the Greene County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court by Greene County General District Judge Kenneth Andrew Sneathern, who also appointed Charlottesville attorney David Heilberg to represent Chandler, The Daily Progress reported.

According to The Daily Progress, Chandler asked the court to address her with female pronouns. She also asked if she could pick up personal possessions from her home, which she shared with her mother. She said that she would be "willing to proceed with everything if she could get that done."

Green Commonwealth's attorney Edwin Consolvo requested Chandler be held with bond, citing concerns for the community's and Chandler's safety, according to The Daily Progress. He reportedly said that it was clear people had sought out her location given that her arrest was filmed.

Chandler interrupted, saying, "I'm famous on the internet."

On March 27, 2023, social media users reported receiving notifications of Chan's release via VINE.

Later that afternoon, Chandler's VINE record was updated to show she was out of custody and released by a court order. 

Chandler was issued a transportation order on March 27, according to the Virginia court's information system.

A Central Virginia Regional Jail representative confirmed to BI that no one with the last name "Chandler" was in custody on March 28. 

It's unclear why the court ordered Chandler's release. 

Greene County Circuit Court records show that a judge dismissed the case against Chris Chan on August 8, 2023.

The dismissal came after attorneys for Chandler filed a motion for an autism disorder deferred disposition. An autism deferral allows Virginia courts to consider alternative sentencing for offenders who have intellectual disabilities such as autism.

On August 18, 2024 — just over a year after authorities dismissed the case against Chandler — YouTube channel EWU Bodycam released bodycam footage of her arrest.

"Oh my fucking god what is this?" one officer can be heard saying in the footage after internet stalkers begin heckling Chandler.

"What the heck is going on right now?" another adds.

Chandler tells police in the video that she's involved in a "celebrity scandal" and that people are "just blowing it out of the water."

"Essentially, I am a decent and good individual," Chandler says in the video. "I believe in everything that is right and positive and I am literally a goddess and that will be proven in the near days to come."