OAKLAND — An Alameda man has been charged with attempting to send harmful matter to a minor in connection with an investigation that was initiated not by police, but by a nonprofit dedicated to identifying child sex crimes.
David Baldwin Carlson, 50, is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail on the single felony count, which was filed on Nov. 2. He was arrested that same day in Emeryville, and is next due in court Nov. 14 for an arraignment, court records show.
On June 21, Alameda police say they received a tip from the Wolf Project, a nonprofit that sends people online to pose as minors. One of the nonprofit’s employees allegedly set up a fake profile posing as a 14-year-old girl. Carlson allegedly messaged “Hey there beautiful, I’m David,” from his account, @wyrdsex, police say.
In subsequent conversations, Carlson allegedly offered to trade nude pictures with the “girl,” offered to initiate it, and sent her two pictures of male genitals, according to police. Investigators later searched Carlson’s phone and found conversations with a woman where Carlson asked her to send a clothed picture of herself from her high school prom, authorities said.
