David Wagner

> "Err... talk to her about her life."
>
> - David's excuse after taking a seat

Wagner's Genesee County mugshot

**David Wagner** is a suspected predator caught in the **Genesee County, Michigan** sting of *Takedown with Chris Hansen*. He is mostly known for his good samaritan excuse, as well as having the same name as a sexual predator caught in *To Catch a Predator*'s **Flagler Beach, Florida** sting.

## Chat, interview and arrest

On Thursday, March 17th 2022 (St. Patrick's Day), 54-year-old David Wagner engaged in an online conversation on an unknown app with what he initially believed to be a 19-year-old woman. What Perverted Justice would call a "fast mover," Wagner's opening message was asking the decoy if she was "available now?" for a "hh" (hook up or hot and horny). In the chat and during a phone conversation, the decoy revealed her age as 15, although this didn't seem to disuade Wagner from continuing the conversation and organising a meet up with the decoy. In fact, immediately after the decoy sent him a message saying that she had to lie about her age on the ad, Wagner claimed to be a cop, so she had to give him sex for free. He asked the decoy for I.D., but she refused. Wagner asked the decoy for a picture of her body before agreeing to come to the sting house.

Upon arriving at the sting house on St. Patrick's Day, Wagner greeted the decoy outside and she compliment his car. Almost immediately after Wagner entered the sting house, he inquired about the neighbours. The decoy then claimed she had to go upstairs to grab her vape. Chris Hansen entered the room and told Wagner to take a seat, causing Wagner to laugh nervously. He immediately pulled the good samaritan excuse, claiming he wanted to help talk the girl through sorting her life out, as well as figure out why she was going "so wrong." He then admitted to having two now 30-year-old daughters of his own, and that was why he felt the need to help younger women selling themselves for sex online. When questioned about his intentions, Wagner claimed that someone else told him about girls online getting into trouble, so he took it into his own hands to help the girl out. As soon as he tried to use the listing showing the decoy's age as 19 as an excuse, Hansen immediately told Wagner to "cut the crap" because he had heard the phone conversation where she clearly told Wagner she was 15. Wagner did not relent, however, despite the mounting evidence against him.

Wagner revealed he asked the decoy for I.D., pulling out his phone to show Hansen. Hansen then affirmed that Wagner asked more concerning questions, such as where her parents were and if she would be willing to send pictures of her body. Wagner admitted that the decoy sent pictures, with Wagner claiming that he only wanted pictures so that he could confirm the decoy was real. Wagner admitted that his story made no sense when pressed by Hansen and that it didn't look good for him. When asked what would happen if a real child was in the house, Wagner claimed that he would've asked for I.D. after she retrived her vape pen. He denied bringing condoms and planning on having sex, sticking to his good samaritan excuse. After Hansen pressed Wagner for more details on why he would be on an app dedicated to hook ups, Wagner stuck to his excuses, with Hansen mocking Wagner by calling him "Saviour Dave." Hansen reminded Wagner that children can easily lie on ad listings.

When asked what Wagner's two daughters would think of this, Wagner didn't reply, holding his fist to his mouth in nervousness and shame. He admitted he chatted to other women on the site, but he denied ever meeting up with them. He denied any of the females he spoke to sending him pictures, also admitting that he was speaking to a young black girl recently. He once again denied coming over for sex and told Hansen that he already told him what he was up to. Hansen asserted that almost everyone he confronts tells the same story and they are almost always lying. Wagner then uses erectile dysfunction as an excuse, failing to understand there are other ways of having sex. Wagner denied directly talking about having sex with the decoy, so Hansen reminded him that showing up and not direclty saying no to the decoy was a strong enough sign of intent. Wagner accused Hansen of putting words in his mouth, with Hansen reminding Wagner that he had the chat.

As soon as Wagner was exposed on camera, he tried to leave, but was stopped by the G.H.O.S.T. team. They immediately questioned whether or not Wagner was involved in an incident the year prior where the bodies of several missing prostitutes were found, which Wagner vehemently denied. They cleared him as not being the same person, but reminded him that he had made "a very bad mistake." He was searched, slowly realising the severe thing he had done.

## Aftermath

Wagner was charged with Child Sexually Abusive Commercial Activity, Accosting Children for Immoral Purposes, and Communicating with Another via the Internet to Commit a Crime. On Monday, June 27th, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 60 months of probation. He was also requried to register as a sex offender for 25 years.