A standard FBI drug investigation led authorities down a darker path than they could have imagined -- to a New York City dentist, accused of possessing child pornography, trading methamphetamine for dental services, and hosting wild sex parties at which he would attempt to spread HIV.
Dr. John Wolf, a lauded dentist in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, appeared in Federal District Court in Brooklyn on Friday, where lawyers painted a picture of a wholesome man in his daily life, and an evil one behind closed doors, according to a New York Times report.
According to the Times:
After searching Dr. Wolf’s home and office on Friday morning, federal agents found methamphetamine and a flash drive filled with 246 files, mostly child pornography, according to a memorandum filed by prosecutors. He admitted to possessing child pornography, “denied having sex with minors and indicated he was unwilling to discuss his drug use or distribution or whether he had drugged anyone unwillingly during sex,” according to the memorandum.
The probe into the 59-year-old dentist's behavior began in March, when a meth dealer arrested by the FBI became an informant, according to the New York Daily News. Wolf was allegedly one of the dealer's customers. The informant "advised that Wolf had shown him images on Wolf’s cellular phone of infants and toddlers being sexually abused by adults,” FBI special agent Aaron Spivack wrote in a complaint.
Wolf, who is HIV positive, also reportedly told the dealer that he would host sex parties, where he would allow people to have sex with animals and “at times punctured holes in condoms in an intentional attempt to spread the HIV virus to his sexual partners,” according to the complaint.
On Monday, the FBI set up a sting operation. Their informant told Wolf that his roommate -- who was really an FBI agent -- also enjoyed child pornography, and Wolf allegedly arranged for the three to meet at his office, where he showed the agent a 35-minute tape of child pornography, then suggested that the pair sexually assault children together.
Authorities say Wolf transferred 23 files containing child pornography onto a flash drive, which he gave to the agent. He also allegedly admitted to drugging unwilling partners at his sex parties who wanted to wear condoms.
Wolf was arrested Friday at his apartment in the West Village.
The New York Post reported that he was "a leading expert on dental practices and AIDS patients." In the 1980s, Wolf won a lawsuit against a landlord who didn't want him treating patients with AIDS, according to career site Backstage.
“My mother has sat in my chair right after I treated an AIDS patient,” Wolf reportedly told The Post in 1988.
He'll face nearly 20 years in prison if convicted on methamphetamine and child pornography charges, and the FBI is still looking for victims in the case.