GUILTY CA - Frank Szeles 'Mr. Wonder', 76, Pedophile Arrested after 25 Years on the Run

Neighbors in a well-to-do section of this San Diego suburb knew him as Frank Szeles, a friendly Cub Scouts leader who frequently gave swimming lessons to young children in his backyard pool.

The federal agents who arrested him last week knew him by a different name: “Mr. Wonder,” the host of a popular children’s TV show who vanished decades ago amid allegations that he sexually abused several kids during a camping retreat in central Louisiana.

The man who faced a San Diego judge Wednesday denied he is the 76-year-old fugitive named Frank John Selas III who allegedly fled to Brazil in 1979 after Louisiana authorities secured a warrant for his arrest.

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This Szeles has also had frequent contact with children. He used to be a Cubmaster in Bonita, but the Boy Scouts of America told the AP that he was “removed from Scouting several years ago for non-compliance with our youth protection policies and procedures.”

The organization said his dismissal was connected to a parent complaint from someone not involved with the group he used to run, and was unrelated to scouting, but it did not elaborate further.

A cached version of the website for the arrestee’s business, Szeles Enterprises, advertises swimming lessons, Cub Scouts trips, day camps and “High Adventure Field Trips.”

“He always had a lot of kids around him,” Szeles’s neighbor, Haywood Gammon, told the AP.

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A man who was accused of sexually abusing children during a camping trip nearly four decades ago when he was known as television show host Mr Wonder was also banned from contact with children from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Frank John Selas III, or Frank Szeles as he was known in the San Diego area, was 'removed from all positions related to children' after failing to comply with the church's child protection policies, Eric Hawkins, a church spokesman, said on Thursday.

After his removal, a parent expressed 'a generalized concern' about the suspect's behavior toward a child and the church urged the parent to report it to authorities, Hawkins said.

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Lilibet said:

The cached version of his website has this creepy description of the swimming lessons he offered:

Each swimming session includes a group lesson, as well as individual hands- on instruction for each child, and a free-swim fun period. Normal duration is 90 minutes, though a child may leave sooner if necessary. (Our specialty is that one on one individual hands on private lesson time with each child)

Bold, italic, underline by me

http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...om/swimlessons.html+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

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cuffem said:

The part under Pools were it says do not contact Plunge pools with questions regarding our program is suspicious.Offering 50% discount to be kept confidential.

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Marc Carlos, a California-based attorney representing Selas, said his client would enter a not guilty plea on Monday. He spoke to The Associated Press in a telephone interview Saturday.

“There are a lot of aspects which the public isn’t aware of in this case; there is a lot of speculation and innuendo that we are eager to put an end to,” he said.

Carlos said the defense team has not seen the evidence against Selas. He said interrogation techniques used in the 1979 may have tainted the case against his client.

“We don’t know if these interviews were taped, what kinds of questions were asked, what kind of conduct was suggested to the child,” Carlos said. “There is probably a woeful lack of forensic evidence.”

He added: “We’re going to trial

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A former children's show host has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from allegations that he sexually abused children during a Louisiana camping trip in 1979.

(...) 76-year-old Frank John Selas III entered the plea Monday during his arraignment in a Rapides Parish courtroom.

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