David Wagner

Wagner's Florida RSO mugshot

**David John Wagner** is a predator involved in the Flagler Beach, Florida edition of **To Catch a Predator**. He is best known for almost being caught in the Greenville, Ohio investigation, as well as meeting and raping an actual child while out on bail.

## Biography

24-year-old David Wagner was almost caught in the Greenville, Ohio investigation in March of 2006. He chatted with a decoy and arranged a meeting, but he did not show up. Months later, he was relocated to Florida for work. David began chatting with a decoy whom he believed was a thirteen-year-old girl. He asks the decoy if she is a virgin and if she masturbates at all. He told her that he wanted to have sex with her and perform oral sex. He sends pictures of his genitalia and asks when she turns fourteen.

It takes David about an hour to drive to the sting house in Flagler Beach. After making small talk with the decoy, Chris Hansen comes out and questions him. When David inquired about an open house, Chris responded hilariously that was another kind of open house. David claims he merely wanted to "meet a friend" when he came over to the house. Later, when he tries to leave, Chris stops him and tells him to come back and sit down. David complies and answers more questions. David then maintains that he left his car lights on. David is halted by Chris, who reveals that he was aware of David's desire to drive the girl in his car. David promises to return and dashes out of the house. Before he could escape, he is arrested by pthe olice and charged.

## Behind the scenes

After being released on bail, David went back online and chatted with an actual child. He was arrested again in May of 2007 in Duval County for sex offenses against the real child. For the case involving the real child, David pleaded guilty to charges of lewd or lascivious battery, and tampering with a witness, victim, or informant. A charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor was dropped. He was sentenced in March 2009 to 7 years in prison, followed by 3 years of probation. In August 2009, David was then found guilty in the Flagler Beach case. He pleaded guilty to child exploitation, transmission of harmful material to a minor, and attempted lewd, lascivious battery sex with a victim 12-15 years old. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison to be served concurrently with the Duval sentence. After his release from prison, David was designated a sexual predator in Florida and received lifetime probation and lifetime sex offender registration. He later moved out of Florida to Tucson, Arizona. Wagner then moved to Ohio where he was classified as a tier two sex offender, which means a moderate risk of reoffending, and is obligated to update his status with law enforcement every six months for 25 years.

## 2022 and 2023 Updates

Chris Hansen did some research on Wagner's life post-sting, revealing he was now a conspiracy theorist who advocates for not only prisoners who were mistreated in prison but also sexual assault survivors. Hansen attempted to call Wagner after obtaining a number belonging to him but Wagner never answered. After Chris left a message, Wagner responded with a surprisingly polite and reasonable text response, explaining he had no desire to speak to Chris on any public platform, but wished him and his family the best. Chris, acknowledging Wagner may very well have turned his life and behavior around for the better, never attempted to contact Wagner again.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.perverted-justice.com/?con=davekruz2003
2. ↑ https://dairystatedegenerates.blogspot.com/2021/02/to-catch-predator-update-flagler-beach.html
3. ↑ https://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/sops/flyer.jsf?personId=66804&x=352f3acb-e9da-424f-b771-c495f8b8d419
4. ↑ https://www.icrimewatch.net/offenderdetails.php?OfndrID=13042844&AgencyID=55220