A member of the Palo Alto Stormwater Management Oversight Committee is facing a slew of criminal charges arising from an internet child abuse probe, according to officials.
The defendant, named as Robert K. Wenzlau, 67, of Palo Alto, was apprehended Thursday at his residence, according to a news release from the Palo Alto Police Department.
Police claimed Wenzlau first came to their attention on March 5, when officials in Georgia reported a guy using a “mobile anonymous communications app” to communicate with an undercover cop acting as a 12-year-old girl.
According to authorities, the individual, who claimed to be 55 years old, gave the officer his cell phone number and used it to send images of himself before sending child sexual assault material.
Police did not reveal the name of the mobile app, citing an ongoing investigation.
Palo Alto detectives identified the owner of the cell phone number and discovered that it was the same person who had corresponded with the undercover cop in Georgia, according to police. They also determined that he was 67 years old and lived in Palo Alto.
Police said detectives then created their own mobile app account, posing as a 12-year-old girl. Four days later, Wenzlau messaged it and began communicating with an undercover cop, according to police.
Wenzlau gave the detective the same phone number and emailed pictures of himself, authorities said. He then solicited the detective for graphic images, sent child s*xual abuse material to the detective, and made plans to meet them in person with the aim of performing s*x acts. The meeting didn’t take place.
Detectives reported the case to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, which charged Wenzlau with four felonies: contacting a minor with the intent to commit a s*x offense, attempting a lewd act on a child under 14, possessing child p*rnography, and transmitting harmful material to a person believed to be a minor.
Wenzlau was also charged with arranging a meeting with a juvenile for lewd behavior, which is a misdemeanor.
On Monday, a judge issued a warrant for his arrest.
Wenzlau has been on the Palo Alto Stormwater Management Oversight Committee since November 2017, according to his LinkedIn profile. The board examines proposed stormwater management capital improvement projects and stormwater management fee-funded expenditures, according to the city’s website.
Wenzlau’s page also shows him as the president and founder of Terradex Inc., a Palo Alto-based company that monitors groundwater contamination.
According to police, detectives suspect there may be further victims. Anyone who believes they have been victimized by Wenzlau should contact the police department at 650-329-2413.