Nicolas Bernard Wallace.
A 29-year-old Florida man is behind bars after he allegedly bragged to one of his Tinder matches about sexually abusing children. Nicolas Bernard Wallace was arrested and charged with four counts of transmission of child pornography, two counts of possession of child pornography, and one count each of solicitation to commit sexual battery on a victim less than 12 years of age, promoting the sexual performance of a minor, and unlawful use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony, authorities announced.
According to a press release from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, a woman on Oct. 12 filed a report with the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office regarding a man she had matched with on Tinder who made some disturbing claims. The woman said that the man, Wallace, admitted to sexually assaulting multiple prepubescent girls on numerous occasions.
The woman showed deputies the messages, and investigators obtained her permission to continue messaging with the Wallace. The undercover detectives say they began exchanging messages with Wallace on Oct. 14. Wallace, in turn, allegedly continued to explicitly describe both his previous unlawful sexual encounters with minors and his appalling hopes for the future.
“While conversing with the undercover detectives, Wallace transmitted four images depicting children being sexually abused,” the press release states. “Wallace then attempted to arrange a sexual encounter with the woman and offered to bring a young child with him. Wallace claimed to have sexually abused this child in the past. Wallace explained that he had nearly unrestricted access to the child and would be able to take her that afternoon.”
Wallace then allegedly made an additional extremely disturbing claim.
“During his conversation with undercover detectives, Wallace also explicitly described the process of grooming young children for sexual activity and stated that he hoped to have daughters of his own so that he could begin molesting and sexually battering them as infants,” according to the sheriff’s office.
Police say that due to the “potential threat” to the child to whom Wallace claimed to have “unrestricted access,” the CCSO immediately took steps to locate Wallace. After finding Wallace in Marion County, investigators contacted the Marion County Sheriff’s Office about the suspect. MCSO deputies responded to Wallace’s home located in the 4100 block of SW 22nd Street in Ocala and took him into custody.
Wallace was already known to the authorities in Marion County. According to the press release, an MCSO detective was actively investigating Wallace for allegedly uploading child sexual abuse material (CSAM) to social media. That detective was able to obtain a search warrant on Wallace’s home. Investigators executing the search warrant recovered Wallace’s cell phone and tablet which were placed into evidence for forensic evaluation.
Police say Wallace refused to speak about his alleged conversations with the undercover detective.
Deputies transported Wallace to the Marion County Jail. He is currently being held on a $95,000 bond.
Detectives say they believe the forensic examination of Wallace’s phone and tablet will result in additional charges being filed against him.
Due to the nature of these crimes and Wallace’s statements about sexually battering young children in the past, MCSO detectives say they believe Wallace may have abused more children. The sheriff’s office urged anyone with relevant information on the case to please contact Detective King at (352) 368-3586.
[image via Marion County Sheriff’s Office]