73-year-old with gun tries to meet teen at hotel for sex acts, Oklahoma cops says
A 73-year-old pharmacist met 15-year-old “Josh” through a dating app and planned to meet up with him at an Oklahoma hotel for sex acts, according to Oklahoma police and the Oklahoma Predator Prevention group.
Instead, he was confronted by a group of adult men who were posing as the teen.
“I understand what I have done,” Vernon Wall said in a video posted by OPP. “I understand it’s disgusting. I understand I am not a good person.”
The video shows Wall’s arrest by Shawnee Police. A Sept. 29 police report said officers responded to a Hampton Inn in Shawnee after members of OPP called them.
The group told officers Wall had come to the hotel to meet with a minor, according to the report.
As of Oct. 2, he was being held in Pottawatomie County Jail on charges of soliciting sexual conduct with a minor using technology, lewd or indecent proposals or acts to a child and possessing a firearm while committing a felony, according the police report and jail records.
Wall connected with the 15-year-old’s profile, which was created by the group, on a dating app called Growler, OPP said. The man started talking to who he thought was the boy Sept. 6, according to the group.
The pharmacist showed up to the hotel room Sept. 29 with drugs, a gun, sex toys and alcohol, OPP’s video shows. He told the group in the video he planned to commit sex acts with “Josh.”
On Growler, the decoy boy’s age was listed as 19, but the decoy later told Wall he was 15, OPP said in the video. Wall tried to deny he knew the teen’s age, but then an OPP member showed him screenshots of their messages, video shows.
“Obviously, I’m guilty,” Wall said in the video.
OPP uses technology to pose as minors and orchestrate meetups with potential predators, according to its website. The group then turns over their findings to law enforcement.
Wall is scheduled to appear in court Oct. 10.
Shawnee is about a 40-mile drive southeast from Oklahoma City.
This story was originally published October 2, 2024 at 9:18 AM with the headline "73-year-old with gun tries to meet teen at hotel for sex acts, Oklahoma cops says."
