Man denies he is fugitive TV star 'Mr. Wonder' wanted on child sex charges
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A former Cub Scout leader who often invited children to his suburban San Diego house to swim is denying that he is the former host of a children's show who went by the name "Mr. Wonder" and is wanted in Louisiana on charges that he sexually abused children during a camping retreat nearly four decades ago.
A man identified by authorities on Wednesday as Frank John Selas III contested that he is the 76-year-old fugitive.
A San Diego judge scheduled a hearing Feb. 11 to establish identity.
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The man arrested at his home Monday in Bonita spells his name slightly differently. Authorities say the former television host changed his name.
Selas hosted a television show in north Louisiana in the 1970s. According to a press release from the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office, Selas fled Louisiana in 1979 right before authorities were set to arrest him on two counts of obscene behavior with a juvenile.
Police say throughout the years they tracked him to Brazil and Japan, and they know he resided in several states across the U.S.
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The case was reopened several weeks ago at the request of Sheriff William Earl Hilton, who worked on the case back in the '70s, KSLA reports.
“If there was a definition of a sexual predator, this is one and I am so proud of the work of our investigators along with the assistance of Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office and our local members of the U. S. Marshals Western District-Louisiana, Violent Offenders Task Force, in locating this suspect after all these years," Sheriff Hilton said. "We never forget our victims.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.