St. Petersburg man posed as English teacher in Vietnam to sexually abuse kids

A St. Petersburg man was sentenced to life in prison Monday after he pleaded guilty to traveling to Vietnam to sexually abuse children, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Christopher Edwin Day, 52, had pleaded guilty in 2020 to two counts of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and two counts of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor into illegal sexual activity.

Federal officials said Day engaged in sex acts with “numerous” Vietnamese boys that he had met and talked to over the internet.

In 2015 and 2016, Day traveled from Florida to Vietnam and sexually abused the boys. Day “flew back and forth to Vietnam under the guise that he was an English teacher, and some boys were lured to Day with promises of money and gifts while others were introduced to Day as their English teacher,” a news release from the Justice Department states.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations agents in Tampa and Ho Chi Minh City. The case was prosecuted in the Middle District of Florida in Tampa.

The case was investigated as part of Project Safe Childhood, an effort to fight child sexual abuse that was started by the Justice Department in 2006.