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Sex offender linked to Spierer investigation has lengthy criminal history

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) —  Justin Wagers is a registered sex offender with several convictions in four Indiana counties ranging from public indecency to sexual gratification to intimidation and invasion of privacy.

His last known address is a brick home just east of Martinsville where Thursday FBI agents and local law enforcement officers conducted a search in connection to the disappearance of missing Indiana University Lauren Spierer, Wagers’ attorney confirmed to I-Team 8.

That attorney later issued a statement saying: Mr. Wagers has no knowledge regarding the disappearance of Lauren Spierer or any other missing person. The family has no further comment at this time and asks that the media respect their privacy.”

I-Team 8 has also learned through interviews and Justin Wagers’ father, Doug, that authorities also conducted a second search at Doug Wagers’ home in Trafalgar, Indiana. Doug Wagers acknowledged that cadaver dogs were present and picked up a scent but that it was not connected to Spierer.

Authorities remained tight-lipped Friday – refusing to publicly acknowledge the second search or discuss Justin Wagers.

They also refused to provide any additional information on the investigation of Lauren Spierer, a missing Indiana University student who has not been seen since June of 2011 after a night out drinking with friends.

Search warrants issued in Thursday’s searches were sealed, according to a Monroe County judge’s clerk.

Doug Wagers said he welcomes the investigation into Spierer and wants to clear his son’s name.

“I want them to investigate. I want them to do a thorough investigation. I want them to know without a reasonable doubt,” Doug Wagers told 24 Hour News 8’s Elizabeth Choi.

Doug Wagers also said that police are profiling his son after an indecent exposure charge he said was a misunderstanding.

That description sits in stark contrast to Wagers’ criminal history.

Justin Wagers, 35, is behind bars in the Johnson County jail awaiting trial on a public indecency charge.

He’s been accused by authorities of being a “serial flasher,” allegedly exposing himself to women and children in at least three counties. He’s also facing charges in Marion County for allegedly exposing himself to a woman and child inside a Goodwill Store this past August.

According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by I-Team 8, a woman in the store saw Wagers gratifying himself in an aisle in front of a young boy and his mother. She alerted store employees who chased Wager away. He left in a white Dodge pickup truck, the court records state.

In a 2011 case out of Monroe County, Wagers was charged and later convicted of intimidation and invasion of privacy, accused of calling a woman 44 times and telling her “You are going to be sorry for hurting me… I could slip into your house and do you in and nobody would even know I was there,” the court records state.

Those charges emerged in August of 2011. The woman told police she feared for her life. He was later convicted on the charges.

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