Minneapolis Public Schools employee promoted prostitution online, charges say
A 47-year-old Minneapolis Public Schools employee is accused of posting online ads for prostitution, and threatening an undercover agent with blackmail.
Forty-seven-year-old Todd James Wallace, of Shoreview, was charged Friday in Hennepin County with one count of promoting prostitution of an individual in connection to incidents investigators began tracking last month.
The criminal complaint accuses Wallace, an employee at Anderson United Middle School, of posting ads on a website between February and late last month that advertised sex workers operating out of a residence near Steven's Square Park in south Minneapolis.
A week ago, an undercover agent with a joint task force involving the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Minnesota Human Trafficking Investigator's Task Force responded to three ads, and each time was given the Steven's Square address.
In each instance, the agent cancelled the encounter, and was soon threatened with blackmail via text message if they didn't pay a $50 cancellation fee. One of the cash app account handles the agent received was "todd-wallace-88," according to court documents.
Agents eventually served a search warrant at the Steven's Square residence and spoke with a sex worker who identified Wallace as the source of the ads and overall coordination. The sex worker said Wallace took "50% of the client fees," court documents state.
Investigators also connected Wallace to a Craigslist ad seeking people for a "spa modeling gig" at a Hopkins residence.
Agents arrested Wallace last week at his school, with court documents noting "school officials did not immediately assist agents with locating [him], and "school officials notified [him] of the presence of human trafficking investigators prior to escorting agents to the gymnasium" to arrest him.
The criminal complaint states an agent "observed" Wallace's phone during his arrest and saw this text conversation:
Wallace: Im serious Human trafficking police are at my school. Call me.
Victim: I didn't tho. Are u lying.
In a statement Minneapolis Public Schools provided to WCCO, a spokesperson said, in part, "Wallace is currently employed by MPS and because of the position he holds and his time of employment with MPS, the provisions in Minnesota Statutes Section 122A.41 do apply to him." The statute says a teacher "must not be discharged or demoted except for cause after a hearing."
The spokesperson also said the district "is following all applicable processes and procedures in this case, and appropriate action will be taken."
If convicted, Wallace could face up to 30 years in prison.