A repeat offender for child molestation and rape, Charles Wager, 57, of Castleton-on-Hudson, New York, was sentenced to three decades behind bars after being convicted for his attempts to entice a minor while under the obligation of sex offender registration, according to an announcement by Acting U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III and the FBI's Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office, Craig L. Tremaroli. Wager's disturbing tendencies surfaced in a trial where evidence revealed he sent thousands of sexually explicit messages to individuals he believed were a 10-year-old girl and her mother in early 2021, exchanging illicit imagery and twisted instructions on sexual activities he planned to engage in with the child.
The U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of New York conveyed that Wager went as far as arranging a rendezvous with the supposed mother and child, purchasing a vehicle for this very purpose, and was apprehended following his travel from Castleton-on-Hudson to Binghamton, New York, carrying toys intended as perverse rewards for the underage girl; he has been in custody since being arrested on that fateful day, February 5, 2021. His elaborate grooming echoed past transgressions, including a third-degree rape conviction in 2002 of a then-15-year-old, and a history of abusing two other minors decades prior, illustrating a pattern of exploitation that the justice system has now interrupted with a lengthy sentence.
"Charles Wager is one of the most dangerous child predators our office has ever prosecuted, and that speaks volumes," Sarcone told the press, "We will continue to unleash the full powers of the federal government to hold these twisted and evil people accountable for their vile and despicable crimes." The 30-year sentence is borne from an operation by the FBI and its Child Exploitation Task Force, a collective of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, including the Colonie Police Department, aimed at stamping out the scourge of child sexual exploitation, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The intensity of the FBI's commitment to protecting children from sexual predators was encapsulated in the words of the Special Agent in Charge, Tremaroli, who said, "Today’s significant sentence put an end to Mr. Wager’s horrific history of sexual abuse and vile behavior, this dangerous individual will now spend decades in federal prison where he can no longer harm any of our children, the FBI remains as dedicated as ever to ensuring any individual seeking to harm our most vulnerable is swiftly identified, investigated, and brought to justice." Assistant U.S. Attorneys Benjamin S. Clark and Thomas R. Sutcliffe spearheaded the prosecution, representing Project Safe Childhood's vigilance in tackling the rampant issue of child sexual exploitation and abuse across the nation, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
