Manhattan Dentist Arrested on Horrific List of Charges Including Child Pornography, Drugs and Willfully Trying To Spread HIV
A popular Manhattan dentist and AIDS activist was arrested Friday on a series of bizarre and disturbing charges that run the gamut from child pornography to sexual intercourse with animals to trading dental work for drugs.
Dr. John Wolf, who practices in Chelsea, was arrested at his home in the West Village, according to The New York Times, where agents discovered a cache of methamphetamine and a flash drive with 246 files, mostly containing child pornography.
A criminal complaint released by prosecutors also reports that Wolf, who is living with HIV, allegedly poked holes in condoms in an “intentional attempt” to transmit the virus to his sexual partners.
The case is made even more bizarre by Wolf’s history as an advocate for gay rights and AIDS awareness. A well known figure in Chelsea, Wolf won a lawsuit in the 1980s prominent lawsuit against his landlord, who had demanded that Wolf not treat patients who were living with HIV. Wolf discussed the case on the show “People Are Talking” in 1988:
Here’s another video of Wolf in the 1980s, discussing homophobia and his AIDS advocacy work:
Wolf was arrested after a drug dealer told authorities that he’d swapped amphetamines for dental work. The dealer also said that Wolf had showed him footage “of infants and toddlers being sexually abused by adults.” Acting in tandem with the FBI, the dealer secretly recorded conversations with Wolf, in which the dentist claimed that he regularly attended and took part in parties in Brooklyn in which “participants would engage in sexual intercourse with animals,” that he had drugged a man with ketamine before assaulting him, poked holes in condoms, and referenced abusing children — all testimony that led to Wolf’s Friday arrest.
“Drug investigations have taken us down dark roads before, but nothing darker than the office practices of Dr. Wolf,” James J. Hunt, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New York division, said in a statement.
It’s unclear so far what kind of sentencing Wolf will get if convicted — in New York, maximum sentences for possession of child pornography alone range from 10 years to life imprisonment. One thing that’s already clear is that his career is officially over: Wolf’s Yelp page is already filled with a torrent of outraged reviews.
