FAU Student ‘Journalist and Activist’ Charged With Soliciting Sex From Minor

Christian Joseph Walden (Photo: Palm Beach County Jail)

A 21-year-old FAU student activist has been charged with soliciting sex from a minor just days after having announced he had been elected to a new position in student government. The student, Christian Joseph Walden, of Boynton Beach, was taken into custody Tuesday night at the Home Depot on West Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach after traveling to meet a boy who he allegedly believed had been 13-years-old; the boy was actually a decoy and was part of a sting organized by the volunteer group “561 Predator Catchers.”

According to a probable cause affidavit filed in court this week, an undercover operation on May 26 led Walden to contact the decoy profile on the dating app Grindr. Police said Walden began exchanging messages with the profile, which presented itself as a minor named “Justin.” At first, the decoy said he was 18-years-old, but later “admitted” to being 13 and “about to turn 14,” via text message, a police report said.

The messages, detailed in the police report, included Walden allegedly discussing sexual activity. After initial conversation on the app, Walden and the decoy moved to text messaging and continued communicating. Police said Walden sent messages suggesting the two engage in oral sex and made arrangements to meet in person at the Home Depot. Upon arrival, Walden allegedly made contact with Dustin Lampros, the organizer of the 561 Predator Catcher group, but continued the text conversation, “including further discussion of sexual activity,” the report said. Officers said Walden was taken into custody after confirming his identity and phone number.

A search of Walden’s cellphone, with his consent, reportedly confirmed the messages, including one in which he suggested the sexual activity. According to the affidavit, Walden later provided a post-Miranda statement in which he acknowledged knowing the person he was meeting was underage and that he had planned to engage in oral sex, telling officers he “made a mistake.”

Walden, according to a LinkedIn profile, described himself as an activist “driven by a passion for LGBTQ+ rights and public service” and a student journalist involved in several publications and LGBT activist groups. Three days ago, he announced that he had been “unanimously confirmed as Chair of the Boca Raton House of Representatives’ Ways and Means Committee in Florida Atlantic University Student Government.”

Walden was lodged in the Palm Beach County Jail on Wednesday night in lieu of $25,000 combined bail on the two charges.