Daniel Waddington

Case report

• case report | facts | sources

Daniel Waddington was a Mormon church member and former police officer in American Fork, Utah.

In August 2023, Waddington was arrested and booked into the Utah County Jail on charges involving aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and a myriad of other charges involving regular sexual exploitation of a minor.

Waddington lived in or near Albany, New York in the early 2000s, and attended LDS services there.

Waddington was featured in a 2000 news article when he was a police officer in Washington state, and was set to be demoted after being caught looking at pornography on a laptop in his patrol car at the Puyallup, Washington Fair. If you know anything about this incident, please tell us.

Thanks to your donations, FLOODLIT.org has obtained a police probable cause statement in this case. It says that investigators took Waddington’s phone and laptop and a USB drive belonging to him, and that they recovered “at least 300 images and/or videos of what appear to contain child abuse sexual material (CSAM) in that many of the images involve what appeared to be pre-pubescent children.”

It goes on to say: “We believe that Waddington should be held in pretrial detention without bail for the following reasons.

“First, Waddington is a retired law enforcement officer for the Long Beach City Police Department in Long Beach, California, and is believed to have been an officer for over 25 years. Waddington also has extensive graduate education in criminal justice-related fields. Also, Waddington claims to have over 40 years of domestic and international criminal justice experience. With this work and educational experience, Waddington would know how serious these offenses are and may be more likely to flee and/or engage in other activities that may hinder the investigation and ongoing prosecution.

“Second, Waddington told investigators he worked for the United States Department of State until June of 2023. Waddington traveled often and his LinkedIn biography indicates he has engaged in extensive law enforcement training, consulting, and training in at least 8 other countries across Europe, South Africa, Asia, and Africa. Based on his international contacts and travel experience, it would be easier for him than a reasonable person to flee outside of the United States to numerous different locations.

“Third, Waddington has access to youth and children through a significant amount of avenues. One of these is his sitting on the board of directors for Second Chance 4 Youth, a program to provide opportunities and positive trajectories for at-risk youth and those in the juvenile justice system. We believe that if Waddington were to be released, he would continue to have ample access to children and youth. We have already demonstrated through this probable cause statement his willingness to take advantage of unknowing children and/or teenagers.”

Additionally, Waddington is alleged to have attempted to record a 13-year-old girl as she took a shower in a bathroom.

Please consider donating to support FLOODLIT’s reporting. Your donations are what keep us going!