BENTON COUNTY, ARKANSAS, Ark. — Multiple different civilian groups have been credited with helping in the arrest of alleged child predators in Arkansas in the past few weeks.
Oklahoma Predator Prevention arrest: Daniel Wagoner
On June 26, Daniel Wagoner was arrested and booked in the Sebastian County Detention Center for possession or use of child sexual abuse material.
An affidavit says that on May 26, officers responded to Rogers Avenue in Fort Smith for a disorderly conduct call.
On the scene, officers made contact with three people claiming to be part of a group called Oklahoma Predator Prevention. The men said that they created a fake profile on a dating app, claiming to be a 14-year-old boy named "Bryce," according to the affidavit.
As the boy, the men were contacted and engaged in conversation with Wagoner, a 30-year-old, the affidavit said. During the conversations, "Bryce" told Wagoner that he was 14, and Wagoner reportedly sent pictures and videos of his genitalia.
Wagoner's phone was seized, and he was interviewed by detectives. He admitted to sending the videos and pictures to who he thought was a minor, according to court documents.
The affidavit says that detectives located the chats, pictures, and videos on Wagoner's phone, as well as a Google search for "is it against the law to send nudes."
As of July 5, Wagoner was still being held on a $50,000 bond. His next court appearance is scheduled for Dec. 16.
Predator Poacher arrest: Bradley Johnson
Just days later, in a separate incident, a man was arrested in Rogers after another predator tracking group reportedly got him to admit on video that he was viewing child sexual abuse material.
An affidavit says that on July 1, the Rogers Police Department was contacted by a man claiming to work for a group called Predator Poacher that monitors the online distribution of child porn.
The Predator Poacher member reportedly told Rogers police they identified Bradley Johnson, 56, as someone who was possibly viewing and possessing child porn, and successfully got Johnson to allegedly admitted to the act on video.
Officers went to Johnson's residence and found him with another member of the Predator Poachers. The affidavit says that Johnson again admitted to having child porn on devices in his residence.
Johnson told police that he had content saved on a desktop computer, a laptop, and possibly his phone, and that he mostly viewed the child sex abuse materials on Instagram, while using Telegram and Snapchat to communicate with juvenile girls. He said that he had been viewing child porn for around two years, court documents said. Johnson then consented to a search of his house.
Johnson indicated that his age preference was between 12 and 15 years old, and that he views the material "every couple of evenings," according to the affidavit. Johnson admitted to purchasing some of the content he viewed, sometimes from underaged girls.
"Bradley also described reviewing 'menus' of CSAM images when asked how much he pays for images. Bradley described being aware of albums costing hundreds of dollars and 'girlfriend experiences' where girls would pretend to be a girlfriend for a week at a time," the affidavit said, although Johnson told police he was not interested in those things.
Johnson was booked into the Benton County Jail on July 1. As of July 5, he was still being held on a $250,000 bond. He faces four counts of distributing, possessing, or viewing sexually explicit child material.
Johnson's next hearing is scheduled Aug. 12.
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