Columbia, July 1: A 22-year-old Columbia university student who started a campaign for ending rape and sexual abuse was arrested on June 29 in New York for his intentions to involve in sexual activity with children. Joel Davis is the co-founder of the charity, Youth to End Sexual Violence that works for providing justice to victims of sexual violence. He was also alleged for possessing child pornography.

Davis has also chaired the UN’s International Campaign to Stop Rape and Gender Violence in Conflict. He was charged on several counts including attempted sexual exploitation of a minor and enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity. The 22-year-old co-founder exchanged text messages with two undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents.

According to a report published in CNN, while charging Davis, federal authorities cited his public charity efforts. The authorities asserted that he had displayed the highest degree of hypocrisy by his alleged attempts to sexually exploit multiple minors. As per federal prosecutors, Davis exchanged the messages with the two undercover agents in May and June.

According to the report,  Davis told the agents that he would have sexual experiences with nine-month-old and seven-year-old boys and with a six-year-old girl. He also tried to meet a nine-year-old daughter of one of the agents and a two-year-old daughter of that agent’s girlfriend.

In April was on a list of 22 planned speakers for a Tedx event in Columbia. He was described as an as an ‘activist and survivor’. According to a criminal report filed, Davis told undercover agents that he would like to involve in sexual activity even with newly born children. Davis  had also been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015 and had served as the U.S.’ Youth Ambassador on Sexual Violence in Conflict.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 01, 2018 04:00 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).