Former Vero Beach Boarding School Minister Nicholas Wagner Arrested for Indecent Exposure to a Minor While Awaiting Pretrial for Sexual Assault

Former Vero Beach Boarding School Minister Nicholas Wagner Arrested for Indecent Exposure to a Minor While Awaiting Pretrial for Sexual Assault

On January 24, 2025, Nicholas Wagner was arrested in Vero Beach, FL, for allegedly exposing himself to a teenage girl at a park. According to media reports, the Vero Beach Police Department confirmed that the incident occurred on January 10, 2025, at South Beach Park near a Pavilion. The victim told police that a strange man walked by her and her friend while they were handing out religious materials near the pavilions. They claim the man was pacing nervously, fidgeting with vending machines, and talking to himself. After several minutes, Wagner walked into a nearby restroom and remained there for a long time. When he finally exited, the victim claims he stood in the doorway of the restroom—fully exposed—locking eyes with the young girl and making no attempt to cover himself. The man then walked to the parking lot, got into a blue SUV, and fled the area. The victim’s friend took several photos of the man and the SUV, which the Vero Beach Police Department was able to use to identify the perp as Nicholas Wagner. It turns out that Wagner was wearing an ankle monitor that he was ordered to wear while out on pretrial after another arrest in March 2024 for lewd or lascivious molestation of a child aged 12 or 16 years old. Officers confirmed he was at South Beach Park the morning of the incident. Wagner, 36, was arrested at a Holiday Inn and is being held at the Indian River County Jail.

In March of 2024, Wagner was arrested for allegedly molesting a student while working at Treasure Coast Boys Academy, a faith-based private boarding school for troubled boys in Vero Beach, owned by Teen Challenge of Florida, Inc. The Boys Academy aims to change the behavior and attitude of high-school-aged boys who are struggling with life or abuse. Wagner worked at the school for at least five years and was listed as a “credentialed minister.” In November of 2024, a complaint was filed against Wagner, Teen Challenge of FL, Teen Challenge Job Training, Treasure Coast Boys Academy, and its executive director.

According to the lawsuit filed, Wager inappropriately touched his 12-year-old client at least three times in the Fall of 2023. The lawsuit states that it is believed that the school knew of Wagner’s troubling accusations and behavior but just swept it under the rug. The disciplinary procedure showed that Wagner self-reported using drugs and alcohol, and they put Nicholas Wagner back in school instead of terminating him. They also chose not to disclose any of this information to the parents of the students.

The complaint filed stated that during the investigation by the Florida Department of Children and Families, it discovered that Wagner regularly viewed pornographic websites like Spankingtube.com, and some videos depicted same-sex male intimacy with one being of authority or power. Florida statutes say that any facility is required to dismiss any personnel found not to be in compliance with the requirements of “good moral character.” Not only was Wagner not fired, but continued to have unsupervised interaction with minor children at the boarding school. Wagner breached his duty and engaged in inappropriate touching and contact with a minor student multiple times while on campus.

Negligence

As a direct result of negligence by Wagner, TCBA, Teen Challenge and the school’s executive director,  a teenage victim suffered pain and suffering. Counts include

Negligent Supervision and Negligence for all defendents for:

• Failing to ensure that staff did not have unsupervised contact with the children after there have been previous reports of inappropriate contact between staff and children at the school, including an incident that took place prior to the incidents that are the subject of this complaint, where a staff member purportedly was showing pornography to one of the child residents
• Continuing to permit WAGNER to have unsupervised contact with the children after Defendants knew or should have known that WAGNER was abusing drugs and alcohol and was regularly viewing explicit pornographic videos while on the campus
• Failing to restrict employee’s access to pornographic websites while connected to the network for the school
• Failing to notify the parents of the children enrolled at the school after discovering that WAGNER was abusing drugs and/or alcohol
• Failing to notify the children enrolled at the school after discovering that WAGNER was abusing drugs and/or alcohol
• Failing to create, implement, and enforce adequate policies and procedures that would prevent the opportunity for unsupervised contact between a single child at the boarding school and the staff
• Failing to create, implement, and enforce adequate policies and procedures that would prevent inappropriate touching of a student by a staff member
• Failing to properly train the staff to prevent inappropriate touching of a student by a staff member
• Failing to create, implement, and enforce policies and procedures to inform the students about the circumstances around inappropriate touching and failing to provide a dedicated method for the students to report such incidents
• Failing to educate the students regarding the need to immediately report any inappropriate touching by a staff member

Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse in schools and other educational settings. If you or a loved one was sexually abused, raped, or sexually molested by a principal, teacher, or another school employee, contact our law firm at 888-283-9922 or e-mail sexual abuse lawyer Adam Horowitz, at adam@adamhorowitzlaw.com for a free consultation.