Man flew more than 5,000 miles to Fresno for sex with child, Department of Justice says
A man suspected of traveling all the way from Denmark to Fresno to have sex with a child has now been indicted.
A federal grand jury in Fresno returned a two-count indictment Thursday against Claus Svelmo Marcuslund, a 58-year-old man from Denmark.
He’s been charged with distribution of child pornography and attempted coercion or enticement of a minor to engage in illicit sexual activity.
Marcusland’s indictment was part of a U.S. Department of Justice initiative known as “Project Safe Childhood,” which seeks to prevent the sexual exploitation of children and achieve justice for the victims of such crimes.”
In addition to Marcusland, Bradley Earl Reger, a 67-year-old man from Susanville in Northern California, was charged with multiple crimes involving sexual abuse of other minors.
Denmark man allegedly flew to Fresno for child sex
Marcuslund was arrested on July 11 at the Fresno airport after he spent months conversing online with a U.S. Homeland Security Investigations undercover agent posing as the mother of a 7-year-old girl, court documents say.
According to court documents, Marcuslund told the undercover agent that “I’m Scandinavian, professional music producer/songwriter and lyricist and yeah, I’m also a pedophile.”
Marcuslund also said “I’m divorced and now searching [for] a nice woman/mom to get to know better, hopefully with the potential of getting together in real life one day. Obviously, she must be 100% supportive of pedophilia and incest.”
“He discussed in detail the sexual abuse in which he hoped to engage and which sexual activities he wanted the seven-year-old to perform on him,” a Homeland Security affidavit says. “From April 12, 2023, through April 24, 2023, Marcuslund then sent approximately 12 videos and photos that each depicted at least one minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.”
Marcuslund also discussed having another child with the mother and molesting the newborn, according to court documents.
Marcuslund flew from his home in Copenhagen, Denmark, to Fresno, with a flight connection in Los Angeles while traveling roughly 5,500 miles.
According to court documents, he also discussed deleting child pornography videos before arriving in California.
Since his arrest, Marcusland is considered a flight-risk suspect and a danger to the community, according to the DOJ.
NorCal man might have ‘hundreds of victims’
A federal grand jury in Sacramento returned a five-count indictment Thursday against Reger, charging him with: engaging in illicit sexual activity abroad, transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and coercion and enticement.
According to court documents, Reger sexually abused more than a dozen patients between the ages of 12 and 22 during medical examinations at his medical clinic in Susanville, as well as in hotel rooms and camp sites all over the world.
Reger has been a licensed Nurse Practitioner with the California Board of Registered Nursing for at least 20 years.
He’s also been heavily involved in various Christian schools, summer camps, youth groups, and church missions since 1986, while holding positions such as a teacher, camp counselor, church deacon, youth group leader, and owner of affiliated nonprofit organizations.
The indictment alleges that Reger sexually abused three different minor victims, in locations such as: Susanville, Nevada, Virginia, and Poland. These offenses allegedly took place between 2006 and 2014.
But authorities believe there are more victims who have yet to come forward.
“We do believe that there are victims spread out across the nation and globally,” Sacramento FBI Special Agent In Charge Sean Ragan told The Sacramento Bee. The special agent added that since Reger’s arrest by the FBI on July 6, another 40 to 50 potential victims surfaced.
The FBI set up a website for victims immediately after Reger was arrested — fbi.gov/RegerVictims — and asked for potential victims to use it to report their abuse or call 800-CALL-FBI (225-5324).
“There could potentially be hundreds of victims,” Ragan said.
