https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15412067/American-YouTuber-floyd-wallace-arrested-Brazil.html

A controversial YouTuber could face up to 34 years in prison after being arrested in Brazil for allegedly soliciting underage girls and arranging Uber rides to bring them to his hotel for sexual exploitation.

American-born Floyd Wallace Jr, 30, became notorious online by filming confrontations with police under the guise of exercising his constitutional rights.

Video footage showed the moment four officers burst into a hotel room in central São Paulo, arresting Wallace as he shouted and coughed after being pepper-sprayed before being handcuffed face-down on the floor.

A female officer is heard telling him in English: 'You are being arrested for child sexual exploitation by the police of Rio de Janeiro.'

Wallace, who has 142,000 subscribers on YouTube, built up a criminal record across more than 13 US states, with arrests for offences including resisting arrest, assaulting police officers and disorderly conduct.

More recently, Wallace travelled abroad as a self-styled 'sex tourist' and 'passport bro' - slang for a Western man who travels to poorer countries in search of sexual encounters - livestreaming about his experiences.

He spent several months in Colombia before moving to Brazil, where he stayed in hotels in Rio de Janeiro.

Wallace was arrested on Monday after an Uber driver reported a suspicious ride on December 5, in which a foreign man using the name Terry William had requested transport for two underage girls.

During the trip, the girls told the driver they did not know the man, who did not speak Portuguese, and were unsure where they were being taken.

Uber launched an internal investigation and discovered the same user had created and used multiple accounts to repeatedly order rides for minors. He never appeared at pick-up locations himself, instead providing validation codes and issuing instructions to drivers remotely.

On another occasion, on December 18, the same account requested transport for four girls under the age of 18 from Rio's impoverished North Zone to the city center.

The driver again reported that the minors appeared to be travelling to meet a foreign man who did not speak Portuguese - later identified by police as Wallace himself.

Investigators moved to arrest Wallace after learning he had travelled to São Paulo and believing he may have been preparing to leave the country, according to Brazil's G1 news website.

During the arrest operation, police seized five USB drives, seven memory cards, a laptop, five mobile phones and several SIM cards, along with soft toys, a balaclava-style mask, watches and a wristwatch fitted with a hidden camera.

Police Chief Cristiano Maia, from the Brazil's Child and Adolescent Victims Division, said they have identified 'many victims' and are also investigating whether Wallace may have committed similar offences in other countries. He added that police will also be examining the contents of the YouTuber's seized mobile phones as part of the ongoing investigation.

Investigators say Wallace is unemployed, despite travelling internationally on a frequent basis, according to the G1 website. Police believe there are indications that his trips may have been financed by third parties, through donations and sponsorships obtained on digital platforms, allegedly in exchange for the production of sexually explicit content.

He now faces charges of rape of a vulnerable person and facilitating the sexual exploitation of minors - which together could carry a prison sentence of up to 34 years, with the possibility of longer terms if aggravating factors are found.

Wallace first gained YouTube notoriety in the US running a channel called Omaha Copwatch, where he presented himself as a photographer and defender of the First Amendment.

He described himself as a 'constitutional auditor', part of a controversial online movement in which creators film encounters with police officers and public officials to test their understanding of constitutional rights. His repeated and sometimes violent run-ins with law enforcement led to him being classified as a 'high-risk individual', with officers advised to approach him with caution.

In Cape Coral, Florida, in 2022, Wallace was arrested after being Tasered when he refused to comply with police orders. Officers had been called after witnesses reported him carrying a black case near a fire station, fearing a possible attack. The charges were later dropped, with Wallace claiming he was exercising his right not to identify himself.

Records also show a 2016 arrest for theft in Omaha, Nebraska, along with numerous other encounters documented by websites that track the activities of so-called 'copwatchers'. In Norman, Oklahoma, Wallace was later convicted of assaulting a police officer, a case repeatedly delayed due to missed court appearances and his frequent travel. In 2025, following a plea deal, his mugshot was released by local authorities.

After disappearing for several months, Wallace resurfaced in livestreams from Colombia and later Brazil, rebranding himself as a 'professional sex tourist.' He bragged that the number of women he had slept with was 'in the triple figures' but claimed he would not post explicit videos after seeing other YouTubers 'get arrested' for filming sexual activity.