A former Arizona State University associate professor accused of trying to meet up with someone he believed was a 15-year-old boy has pleaded guilty, more than a year after Chandler police intercepted him at a prearranged meeting spot. Shiyou Wu entered a plea to aggravated attempt to lure a minor for sexual exploitation and will likely serve 90 days in jail while also registering as a lifetime sex offender.
The case traces back to April 18, 2025, when Chandler police arrested Wu after an undercover sting in which he allegedly communicated on a dating app with a detective posing as a 15-year-old boy and arranged to meet in person, according to FOX 10 Phoenix. Detectives reportedly used age-regressed photos on the dating application as part of the operation. Court documents obtained after the arrest indicated Wu had borrowed an SUV and purchased alcohol before driving to the Chandler meeting location where officers took him into custody.
According to The Arizona Republic, whose reporting on the plea deal was authored by Perry Vandell, Wu accepted the plea agreement more than a year after his initial arrest. The publication reports the plea resolves the case with the single count of aggravated attempted luring, carrying the expected 90-day jail term and mandatory lifetime registration.
From Preliminary Charges to a Negotiated Plea
When Wu was first booked into custody, he faced far more severe preliminary allegations, including child sex trafficking and aggravated luring of a minor for sexual exploitation, before the case was ultimately resolved through the 2026 plea agreement. He was held on a $100,000 bond and released on electronic monitoring on April 20, 2025, after posting bail.
Wu's arrest also triggered swift action at Arizona State University. The school placed him on administrative leave on April 23, 2025, barring him from entering campus or taking part in university activities while officials conducted a personnel review, citing Arizona Board of Regents policies governing active personnel matters, per 12News. At the time, Wu held several notable titles at the university.
A High-Ranking Academic Role at ASU
Wu served as an associate professor and associate director for doctoral education at ASU's School of Social Work, and also worked as assistant director for China Initiatives at the ASU Global Center for Applied Health Research, according to reporting from The Arizona State Press. He additionally served as president of the Asian & Pacific Islander Social Work Educators Association. Prior to the criminal charges, Wu's academic research focused on social determinants of health, youth substance abuse prevention, and developing social interventions for impoverished families, having authored numerous peer-reviewed journal articles on adolescent health.
That professional focus on youth welfare stands in stark contrast to the criminal conduct to which Wu ultimately pleaded guilty. Hoodline previously reported on Wu's initial arrest and charges in April 2025, when the case first came to light following the Chandler sting operation.
What the Guilty Plea Means Under Arizona Law
Under Arizona Revised Statute § 13-3554, luring a minor for sexual exploitation is classified as a Class 3 felony, and the statute explicitly states that the target not actually being a minor — as in an undercover police sting — is not a legal defense to prosecution. That means the fact that Wu was communicating with a detective rather than an actual 15-year-old provided him no legal shield against the luring charge.
Separately, under Arizona Revised Statute § 13-3821, a conviction or guilty plea for luring or aggravated luring of a minor triggers mandatory, lifetime registration on the state sex offender registry maintained by the Arizona Department of Public Safety. Registered individuals must keep up-to-date address and employment records with county sheriffs for the remainder of their lives.
Wu's case is not the only one involving an ASU faculty member to draw scrutiny from Maricopa County prosecutors in the past year. In July 2025, Hoodline reported that W.P. Carey School of Business professor David Zhu faced first-degree murder charges in connection with the fatal shooting of his wife in Scottsdale, offering a separate but similarly striking example of a university professor confronting serious felony allegations in the region.
