The Chris Chan case ended in August 2023 when a Virginia court dismissed the felony incest charge against Christine Weston Chandler under the state’s autism deferred disposition statute. The dismissal followed roughly 20 months in custody, most of it split between the Henrico County Jail and Western State Hospital, where Chandler underwent competency restoration treatment before her attorney could pursue the deferral. She has no felony conviction from the case.
The Arrest and the Charge
Chandler was arrested on August 1, 2021. The charge involved her 80-year-old mother, and under Virginia law, sexual intercourse between a parent and child is a Class 5 felony.1Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-366 – Sexual Intercourse by Persons Forbidden to Marry; Incest; Penalties
A Class 5 felony carries a possible prison sentence of one to ten years. A judge or jury also has discretion to treat it more like a misdemeanor and impose up to twelve months in jail plus a fine of up to $2,500.2Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-10 – Punishment for Conviction of Felony; Penalty Chandler was held at the Henrico County Jail without bail while the case moved from the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court up to the Circuit Court for felony proceedings.
Why the Case Stalled for Months
The proceedings didn’t move to trial because the court had to resolve a threshold question: was Chandler mentally competent to participate in her own defense? Virginia law requires a competency evaluation whenever there is probable cause to believe a defendant lacks the substantial capacity to understand the proceedings or assist their attorney.3Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 19.2-169.1 – Raising Question of Competency to Stand Trial or Plead; Evaluation and Determination of Competency
That question is separate from insanity or criminal responsibility. Competency is about the present moment: can the defendant work with counsel and follow what’s happening in court right now? Chandler was evaluated and found not competent to proceed.
The court then ordered restoration treatment, and Chandler was transferred from jail to Western State Hospital, a state psychiatric facility. Restoration treatment isn’t aimed at curing an underlying condition. Its purpose is narrower: helping the defendant understand the charges, the roles of the judge and attorneys, and the basics of how a trial works, so proceedings can resume. After several months, evaluators determined her competency had been restored, and she was moved to the Central Virginia Regional Jail to await further proceedings.
How the Charge Was Dismissed
With competency restored, the defense filed a motion under Virginia Code Section 19.2-303.6, the state’s autism deferred disposition statute. Enacted in July 2020, the law lets a court defer proceedings and place a defendant on probation instead of entering a conviction, if specific conditions are met.4Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 19.2-303.6 – Deferred Disposition in a Criminal Case; Persons With Autism or Intellectual Disabilities
Four conditions have to line up:
- A psychiatrist or clinical psychologist has diagnosed the defendant with an autism spectrum disorder or an intellectual disability.
- The court finds, by clear and convincing evidence, that the criminal conduct was caused by or had a direct and substantial relationship to that disorder or disability.
- The defendant consents to the deferral.
- The charge is not capital murder, an act of violence under Virginia Code Section 19.2-297.1, or an offense that already has its own statutory deferred disposition.
The clear-and-convincing standard is a high bar, but the court accepted the causal link in Chandler’s case and granted the motion. Chandler was released from custody on March 27, 2023, and placed on supervised probation. Conditions under the statute can include therapeutic programming, check-ins with a probation officer, and behavioral requirements tailored to the defendant’s disorder.
The mechanism functions like a contract with the court. Fulfill every condition and the charge is dismissed without any guilty verdict ever being entered. Violate a term and the court can revoke the deferral, enter a finding of guilt, and sentence the defendant on the original charge as though no deferral had ever been granted. For a Class 5 felony, that ceiling remained ten years.
Chandler complied. In August 2023, after the court reviewed her performance under supervision, the felony incest charge was formally dismissed.
What Chandler’s Record Looks Like Now
Chandler has no felony conviction from this case, is no longer in custody, and is not under a restoration order. Whether any post-disposition supervision terms remain active is not publicly known.
A dismissal, though, is not the same as an erased record. Virginia is phasing in an automatic records-sealing system, and beginning July 1, 2026, felony non-convictions at case conclusion, including dismissals with prejudice, become eligible for sealing. Even then, sealing a felony non-conviction requires a verbal request by the defendant and the prosecutor’s agreement.5Virginia State Crime Commission. Sealing of Criminal Records Update
Dismissals that come through deferred disposition face an added hurdle. Under Virginia law, a deferred dismissal is only expungeable if both the prosecutor and the defense agreed to expungement eligibility and that agreement is written into the final court order. Whether Chandler’s dismissal order contains that language has not been made public. Without it, the arrest and charge would remain on her record even though the case ended without a conviction.