Photo: San Luis Obispo County Jail
An accused California pedophile who allegedly dated single mothers to get close to their children was arrested several states away after more than two years on the run.
David Paul Wilson, 41, was found living near Helena, Montana, in July and extradited to San Luis Obispo County Jail in connection to accusations of raping several children under the age of 15, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office confirmed in a press release shared on Monday (August 21). An arrest warrant was initially issued for Wilson on April 29, 2021, according to the press release.
Wilson faces 16 charges of child molestation, which includes six counts of aggravated sexual assault of a minor, six counts of sexual acts with a child under the age of 10 and four counts of lewd lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14, according to court records, though it is unclear how many victims he targeted, with police only saying "multiple" juveniles came forward as victims and more are expected.
"It's believed the abuse happened during the span of several years," the department said in the press release.
Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office Special Victims Unit detectives began investigating Wilson in February 2021 following reports of sexual assault and were granted an arrest warrant two months later, at which point the suspect fled the county. Officers warned that Wilson had a history of living throughout the entire state of California, as well as having lived a "transient" lifestyle, at the time of his disappearance.
Wilson is currently being held in Luis Obispo County Jail on a $6 million bond.