A second-tier QAnon influencer who has baselessly accused high-ranking Democrats of being pedophiles is himself a convicted sex offender, a Right Wing Watch investigation found.
David Todeschini, under the alias of David Trent, operates the Net4Truth BitChute channel with some 21,000 followers, a GoFundMe page for “Christian Ministry and Veteran’s advocacy” featuring QAnon rhetoric, and number of social media pages. Todeschini was also the owner of a YouTube channel that had thousands of followers until that platform purged channels espousing the dangerous QAnon conspiracy theory following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
QAnon is a far-right conspiracy theory that posits that a “deep state” made up of high-ranking Democrats, business leaders, and Hollywood figures are operating a satanic child-sex trafficking cult and that former President Donald Trump has been working to bring down the cult. The conspiracy theory has become a movement whose followers are among Trump’s most ardent supporters. Like many other QAnon followers, Todeschini was among those who attended the rally prior to the insurrection on Jan. 6 to keep Trump in office, though it’s unclear whether he was among the cohort that breached the U.S. Capitol.
In his videos, Todeschini calls for Democratic politicians in D.C. to be “taken out at gunpoint,” alleges children are being trafficked, and claims Hillary Clinton, Bill Barr, and others have been convicted of treason and sentenced to hang. The introduction for his videos displays QAnon slogans and the symbol of the Three Percenters, a paramilitary extremist group.
In one video dated Sept. 9, Todeschini railed against a report that President Joe Biden would require federal government employees to be vaccinated, stating, “Why this country hasn’t risen up and hung these bastards by now is beyond me.” He added, “These treasonous rat bastards need to be taken out of Washington, D.C. I say get all the children out and nuke it for [inaudible].” The title of that video accused Biden of being a “Cho-mo”—prison slang for a pedophile.
In another video dated Aug. 14, Todeschini and fellow conspiracy theorist “Stoney Stone” interviewed “mini” Mike Lindell—a 13-year-old whose hero appears to be election conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell—complimenting him for being “well spoken” and for his passion for politics.
But the 70-year-old Todeschini is a convicted sex offender—a level three threat, according to New York sex offender registry, meaning that he is at “high risk of repeat offense and a threat to public safety exists.” That registry categorizes him as a “sexually violent offender.” Todeschini was convicted in 1999 of coercing an 8-year-old boy into sexual acts three years earlier.
RWW was tipped off to Todeschini’s record via Gabe Hoffman, owner and producer of the documentary “An Open Secret.”
Todeschini can easily be identified as his alias with a quick visual comparison of “David Trent” on the “Inglorious Patriots” BitChute program to Todeschini’s 2019 mugshot from the New York sex offender registry and his 2020 mugshot from the North Carolina sex offender registry. Todeschini’s alias is hardly hidden—RWW was able to cross-reference multiple social media accounts to determine they are operated by the same person. Numerous aspects of Todeschini’s LinkedIn page match his Facebook page, which he operates under the Trent alias, including claiming to have worked for IBM and served in the U.S. Air Force, his love for his Jeep Wrangler, and having studied at RCA Institutes. His LinkedIn page also advertises his Net4Truth website. The ’97 Jeep Wrangler description on his LinkedIn page matches the vehicle description provided on the New York sex offender registry, and his BitChute channel also advertises his Facebook page. On numerous social media pages, he touts being a Vietnam war veteran.
Donald Rebovich, a professor of criminal justice at Utica College and author of a 2015 U.S. Department of Justice study “Hiding in Plain Sight? A Nationwide Study of the Use of Identity Manipulation by Registered Sex Offenders,” told Right Wing Watch that that study found around 13 to 15 percent of registered sex offenders have manipulated their identities to evade registration tracking. “It doesn’t sound like a lot, but it amounts to tens of thousands of offenders,” he said, adding, “If you’re a registered sex offender and present yourself as someone else, that could be considered a violation.”
In his videos, Todeschini has stated that he is operating out of southern North Carolina; that corresponds with the Hamlet, North Carolina, address listed for Todeschini in that state’s registry. The New York registry listed an address for Todeschini in Atco, New Jersey, along with employment addresses in Woodside, New York, and Jersey City, New Jersey. Right Wing Watch reached out to North Carolina and New Jersey law enforcement about whether Todeschini’s online alias is known—under federal law, aliases used by sex offenders can be made known to the public—whether he is at all in violation of his terms of release, and what online interactions with minors are allowed. Sergeant Timothy Lyons with the Waterford Township Police Department in New Jersey told Right Wing Watch he was familiar with Todeschini and that Todeschini is not registered in Waterford Township (where Todeschini’s Atco residence is listed) but was unable to provide more information. The New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, when contacted, said Todeschini is not under parole or probation supervision in New York, but that New York law requires individuals to provide all aliases, in addition to other information, at the time they are required to register and to notify the registry of any changes.
Right Wing Watch also reached out to GoFundMe about the page Todeschini operates that promotes QAnon. A spokesperson for the platform replied to Right Wing Watch confirming that “the fundraiser violates GoFundMe Terms of Service and has been removed from the platform.”
Right Wing Watch sent Todeschini an email about his use of an alias to the email address provided on his “Inglorious Patriots” program. We will update this post should he respond.
In blog posts from the early 2000s, Todeschini promoted himself as a “WebPastor” and promoted his Net4Truth website. In a 2006 post, he defended Michael Jackson, who was accused of molesting children numerous times, writing, “As far as sleeping in the same bed with a child – that, too, is not in itself, evil,” later adding, “False allegations of child sexual abuse have become a weapon in the hands of The Merchants of Chaos.” In the same post, he suggested that “malicious prosecution” of those accused of pedophilia has led more pedophiles to kill their victims to hide the crime.
Even then, Todeschini was promoting conspiracy theories, using language that would become familiar to those following QAnon, claiming that “The Satanic agenda of the New World Order dictates that the nuclear family be destroyed.”
Todeschini is far from the only QAnon follower to have committed violent acts or to have a history of illegally engaging with a minor. In 2020, a Texas QAnon supporter used her car to attack strangers she believed were “pedophiles,” and this past August, a father murdered his two children—ages 1 and 3—claiming to have been “enlightened” by QAnon and Illuminati conspiracy theories. Right Wing Watch previously reported that QAnon influencer Phil Godlewski had been convicted in 2010 of corruption of a minor after engaging in a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl when he was 28.
This article has been updated to include comment from the Waterford Township Police Department.
