FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 18, 2025

Martinsburg Man Arrested for Internet Solicitation of a Minor

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - On July 17, 2025, a subject by the name of Anthony Ryan Bates contacted a CPD detective who was operating in an undercover capacity via an online chat service.

Bates believed that he was chatting with a fourteen-year-old female. Bates arranged to meet with the juvenile female in the city of Charlottesville, with the intent of engaging in sexual activity.  

On July 18, 2025, detectives and officers apprehended Bates, a forty-six-year-old male from Martinsburg, West Virginia, in the parking lot of the Barracks Road Shopping Center. The parking lot of the Barracks Road Shopping Center was the predetermined location that Bates had agreed to for the meeting.

Bates was taken into custody without incident and has been charged with the following:

• One count of §18.2-374.3 (B) – Use of Communications Systems While Taking Indecent Liberties with a Minor
• Two counts of §18.2-374.3 (C) – Use of Communications Systems for Solicitation of a Minor.

Bates is being held at the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail and is considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Media Contact
Kyle Ervin
Public Safety Information Officer
City of Charlottesville
(434) 326-3043
ervinkl@charlottesville.gov