SALISBURY — An arrest warrant has been issued for a Kansas City man who police say exposed himself on camera to whom he thought was a 13-year-old girl but was actually an undercover police officer, according to Newburyport District Court records.
Justin Wacker, 34, was charged by Salisbury police with sending obscene matter to a minor after the incident Sept. 24.
If found guilty, Wacker could spend up to five years in prison and be fined as much as $10,000, according to state law.
Salisbury police Sgt. Keith Forget wrote that on that day, Wacker was in the middle of a video call with an undercover police officer posing as a 13-year-old girl when he exposed himself to her and performed a sexual act. As this was happening, another police officer took photos of the incident and forwarded them to Forget.
The video call was the culmination of an intense morning of back-and-forth messages between Wacker and Forget on a web-based chat room called Chat Avenue.
Wacker sent a message to Forget, who was posing as the 13-year-old girl at the time, saying he wanted her cell phone number so they could hang out. He asked for the phone number even after Forget told him he was talking to a 13-year-old.
“The subject requested to video chat via FaceTime (Apple’s video chat service) several times and asked to speak with the female child on multiple occasions via text message,” Forget wrote in his report, adding that Wacker tried to start a video chat eight times within a few minutes.
Forget reminded Wacker that he was speaking to a 13-year-old girl who said he knew but continued contacting him despite her age.
About this time, Forget agreed to a video call. He then contacted a female police officer from a different department who agreed to pose as the 13-year-old child, according to Forget’s report.
During that video call, Wacker repeatedly asked the officer to remove her shirt and pull down her pants. He then offered to expose himself, which he did moments later. As this was taking place, a second officer standing off camera took photographs of Wacker and sent them to Forget.
Forget soon tracked the phone number to Wacker and contacted law officials in Kansas City. Authorities subpoenaed his phone records and confirmed the calls and texts came from the same device.
A check of his criminal background showed “several concerning criminal entries including lewd and lascivious behavior, and purchasing liquor for a minor, and operating under the influence of drugs/alcohol,” Forget wrote in his report.
Forget later learned authorities in Kansas City spoke to Wacker and confirmed his identity. That prompted Forget to apply and receive a warrant for Wacker’s arrest earlier this month, according to Forget’s report.
Dave Rogers is a reporter with the Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: drogers@newburyportnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @drogers41008.
