NORFOLK, Va. – A federal judge sentenced a Chesapeake man to 29 years in prison Thursday for preying on a financially vulnerable woman and sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl, according to a press release drop from the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

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In 2020, prosecutors say Christopher Digges, 41, befriended a financially disadvantaged woman and moved in with her and her children in 2021 after offering to help them by paying rent.

According to the press release, Digges engaged in sexual conduct with the child multiple times and solicited her to perform sexual acts in order to produce child sexual abuse material.

Prosecutors say Digges bought a home in Chesapeake in October 2021 and moved the mother and child into it. According to the press release, Digges made it clear to the child that he bought the home for her and used it to manipulate her when she was unavailable to him.

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Digges hit the child, sexually assaulted her and threatened to take her possessions if she did not comply with his requests or demands. Prosecutors say Digges continued to force and abuse the child until 2023 when she was 14 years old.

In July 2023, the mother provided information to police that Digges had engaged in sexually explicit behavior with the child and had produced and received child sexual abuse material, prosecutors said.

The government recovered over $169,000 from the sale of the Chesapeake home Digges had purchased, according to the news release.