Dr. John Wolf, a dentist in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, ran a solid practice with glowing reviews on sites like Yelp. He lived nearby in a West Village apartment, was an expert on AIDS as it affects dental practice, and was a former member of the New York City Gay Men's Chorus. Until last week, he led a comfortable life.
Today, a typical Yelp review for Wolf reads: "He's a filthy pig! I wouldn't want his hands or instruments anywhere near my mouth. I hope he spends the rest of his life in prison and none of his patients get HIV! Disgusting pervert!"
Wolf's sudden fall from grace is the result of a federal criminal complaint claiming, among other things, that the dentist possessed and distributed child pornography out of his Chelsea office. Not only that—the complaint says that Wolf actually played a half hour of "some twisted shit" involving young girls for an undercover agent.
The case began when federal agents at JFK airport busted an unnamed individual who was transporting 1,844 grams of meth. The person said that some of the meth went to Wolf in exchange for dental services—and that Wolf was also into "significant illegal conduct," including child porn.
The individual agreed to become an informant and so wore a wire to Wolf's office. Their recorded conversations allegedly include Wolf talking about 1) bestiality parties in Brooklyn, 2) poking holes in condoms to infect others with HIV, 3) meth, and 4) child pornography.
The informant said that his roommate was into child porn and could recommend some websites. Wolf allegedly texted the informant later, saying he "would like the name of those websites!"
On November 16, the "roommate"—an undercover federal agent—stopped by Wolf's practice to talk about child porn. According to the FBI, Wolf soon handed a flash drive to the "roommate," then offered to show him some of the child porn stored on it.
What happened next was surreal. According to the criminal complaint against Wolf:
WOLF plugged the flash drive into a computer, ran a cord from the computer to a large display screen, and projected the child pornography on the large screen for the UCA [undercover agent] to view. WOLF played child pornography for approximately 35 minutes.
After showing off his greatest hits while he "audibly moaned," Wolf allegedly renewed his offer to share files with his new acquaintance. In fact, he had an extra flash drive right there, ready to go!
Wolf transferred 23 files onto the drive, and the "roommate" left. An FBI agent later reviewed the files on the drive; even the text-based descriptions of them are horrific.
Wolf was arrested late last week and faces federal charges in a Brooklyn court. After searching Wolf's apartment and office, prosecutors claim to have found another flash drive containing 246 files, most of them child pornography.
Yesterday, Wolf's lawyer told reporters that his client has a "drug problem" but that the more outlandish elements of the story, including the bestiality parties, might simply be wild talk.
“I just don’t think any of that happened,” he said, according to The New York Times. “People on meth aren’t necessarily accurate historians, and they tend to exaggerate and say outlandish things.”
They also don't have particularly good opsec. Thankfully.
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