Boulder, Colorado- A 36 year old Boulder man has been charged with a string of brutal sexual assaults on women in Colorado in the mid 1990s.
Police arrested Brad Wagner following the reopening of a cold case file on the rapes. Wagner starred in more than two-dozen gay sex films under the name Tim Barnett. Among the films he appeared in are the 1994 release Thriller and 1995s An Officer and His Gentlemen, both produced for a major California-based adult video company.
Although his background in gay porn was not widely known, Wagner was well regarded in Boulder where he worked as a real estate agent.
He is being held in Boulder County Jail on a $1 million bond, and police in other areas of the country are now checking his DNA in connection with other unsolved rapes.
The indictment against him says that he assaulted women in the Tantra Lake area from 1993 to 1998 by breaking into their apartments, generally through a sliding glass door. It also says that he has been convicted of burglaries, thefts and DUIs in at least six states.
Sexual assault agencies say the fact that Wagner appeared in gay sex videos should have not bearing on the case.
"Rape is about power and control and manipulation, not about sex," Kathy Kramer of the Rape Assistance and Awareness Program told the Rocky Mountain News.
Wagner's lawyer agrees that the sex tapes should have no bearing on the case.
"I don't consider this stuff relevant to my case," Wil Smith, Wagner's attorney, told the paper. "Since my position is he's not guilty, I just don't think it's relevant."
The Rocky Mountain News reports: A man charged with five rapes in the metro area in the mid-1990s was starring in gay pornographic movies at the same time.
Brad Wagner, 36, who faces sexual assault charges in Boulder and Lakewood, has performed in two dozen XXX-rated films using the name "Tim Barnett."
Wagner worked as a real estate agent in Glenwood Springs until his arrest on June 11 for the decade-old assaults. He is being held in Boulder County Jail on a $1 million bond.
"I don't consider this stuff relevant to my case," said Wil Smith, Wagner's attorney. "Since my position is he's not guilty, I just don't think it's relevant."
Boulder police say Wagner assaulted women in the Tantra Lake area from 1993 to 1998 by breaking into their apartments, generally through a sliding glass door. Wagner is charged in Lakewood with an assault on July 26, 1994, in the area east of Red Rocks Community College.
Authorities finally located Wagner by tracking his various addresses and matching them to the locations of the assaults.
Then, a Boulder police officer posing as a real estate customer set up a meeting with Wagner on May 20 and detectives gathered his DNA from the handle of his bicycle, a handshake with the undercover cop and the front door of his home. It reportedly matched DNA found on one of the victims.
Police in Austin, Texas, are also checking Wagner's DNA for a similar assault there in 1995.
During the 1990s, Wagner moved around Colorado and elsewhere, living in Boulder, Denver, Lakewood and Steamboat Springs. He's been convicted of burglaries, thefts and DUIs in at least six states.
Wagner has worked as a licensed commercial real estate broker in Colorado since 1999.
Also during the 1990s, Wagner appeared in at least 26 gay porn films that are still being sold on the Internet.
In 1994, he appeared in Thriller, and in 1995 he starred in An Officer and His Gentlemen.
Advocates for sexual assault victims said it's important to remember there is no link between being gay and being a sexual predator.
The other misperception people may have is that rape is about sex, said Kathy Kramer of the Rape Assistance and Awareness Program.
"A lot of people believe that perpetrators don't have access to consensual sex, when in fact most perpetrators do," she said. "Rape is about power and control and manipulation, not about sex."
