A 32-year-old Orlando-area man is being held on a federal child-pornography charge, accused of sharing and soliciting illegal images as part of a larger investigation into a social-media group called "Taboo Parents."
- Michael Wagner arrested Friday on federal charge
- Suspect belonged to social-media group created with Kik app
- "Taboo Parents" group encouraged child exploitation, feds say
Michael Wagner was among the 54 to 36 members who belonged to the Kik messenger group between February 26 and March 27 and encouraged sexual exploitation of children, a federal criminal complaint alleges.
“In the ‘Taboo Parents’ KIK group, moderators and users discussed the sexual abuse of children and encouraged other members to post and share with ‘no limits,’ the complaint says.
An undercover officer posing as a parent with an 8-year-old child contacted the alleged founder of the group. That suspect told the officer he had sexually abused his own 8-year-old daughter.
The suspect then made the officer a moderator of the group. Records show others have been arrested across the country, including the alleged founder, since the officer became a moderator.
Wagner allegedly shared child porn with the officer, a detective with the Metropolitan Police Departrnent-Federal Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation Task.
Wagner was arrested Friday and is being held at the John E. Polk Correctional Facility in Sanford. He is being held under a detention order signed Friday by U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel C. Irick.
“The defendant makes no application for release at this time,” the order states. “A motion for conditions of release and a detention hearing may be filed at a later date.”
Irick signed a search warrant for Wagner’s home on April 24. Agents with the warrant went to his home on Windrose Drive on Friday.
Wagner told agents he’s been viewing child porn for 19 years. He also said he traded child porn through the Taboo Parents group.
Investigators found images of infants, toddlers, and preteens.
