A nurse practitioner in Susanville, California, who has been the subject of child molestation investigations since 1986 has been arrested by the FBI and is suspected of abusing more than a dozen boys and men in locations around the world, court documents say.
Bradley Earl Reger, 67, was arrested by the FBI on July 6 and is now being held without bail at the Sacramento County Main Jail on a charge of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places. He faces his next court hearing Friday.
An FBI affidavit filed in federal court in Sacramento says Reger “sexually abused more than a dozen male patients between the ages of twelve and twenty-two under the guise of conducting purported medical examinations at his medical clinic in Susanville, CA, and in hotel rooms and camp sites all over the world.”
“For years, up to and including at least 2020, Reger enticed and induced multiple victims to travel out of California on camping trips or church-affiliated missions, where he would conduct unlawful sexual abuse in the guise of medical treatment,” according to the affidavit by FBI Special Agent Russell Quiniola.
Reger purported to give patients medical exams or mole inspections to touch their genitals, court documents say, and had ample access to boys through his activities.
“Since at least 1986, Reger has been heavily involved in various Christian schools, summer camps, youth groups, and church missions,” the affidavit says. “He has held positions as a teacher, camp counselor, wrestling coach, church deacon, youth group leader, board member of various school boards, and owner of affiliated non-profit organizations.”
Reger also “owned and operated several ambulance and flight ambulance businesses in Northeastern California and Northern Nevada, to include Mountain Lifeflight, Lassen Ambulance Service, Mountain EMS, Inc., and Mountain Lifeflight of Nevada for over three decades,” the FBI affidavit says.
He has been the subject of law enforcement attention since at least 1986, court records say, but was not charged until now.
Reger first came to the attention of Susanville police and the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office, which investigated him in 1986 on suspicion of sexual abuse of a minor, court records say. The FBI affidavit says a copy of a police report from that investigation could not be located.
Since then, Reger came under investigation by Susanville police in 2003, 2006 and 2007, the affidavit says.
“I reviewed the 2003, 2006, and 2007 Susanville PD reports, which contained multiple complaints against Reger for abusing approximately twelve minor boys while he was in a position of trust, such as a teacher, wrestling coach, employer, or camp counselor,” Quiniola wrote. “However, to my knowledge, none of these investigations resulted in criminal charges against Reger.”
Reger’s arrest stems from one victim’s complaint to a church official in February 2022 who said the 6-foot-5, 305-pound Reger “had groomed him for sexual abuse when he was a minor and had sexually abused him under the guise of medical treatment, with escalating conduct from 2016 through 2020,” court documents say.
The church launched an internal investigation in June 2022, court records say, and identified 10 to 15 minor victims and several adults Reger allegedly abused.
On Oct. 18, 2022, the general counsel for the Church of the Nazarene reported Reger to Lassen County child protective services and to the state Board of Registered Nursing, court documents say.
Lassen County CPS sent the allegations to the Sheriff’s Office, which contacted the FBI in November. Eventually, the FBI, the California Department of Consumer Affairs, which oversees the nursing board, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security began a joint investigation.
A Homeland Security report filed in court records says “numerous individuals have alleged inappropriate sexual conduct and sexual assault as minors which took place across the United States and multiple countries,” and said agents determined Reger had traveled overseas about 235 times between 2004 and 2023.
“Reger’s travel includes destinations such as Dominica, Ukraine, Poland, Spain, Ireland, U.K., Philippines, South Korea, Czech Republic, Japan, Qatar, Iceland, Israel, France, Germany, UAE, Jordan, the Netherlands, Ghana, Hong Kong, Finland, Senegal, Mexico, Haiti, China, Canada, Hungary, Singapore, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, and Kenya,” the report says. “The joint investigation has revealed that numerous identified victims and potential victims have accompanied Reger on international trips.
“(Homeland Security Investigations) and FBI have conducted several interviews of victims in which they describe abuse occurring overseas in countries such as Poland, Ukraine, and the Philippines. Additionally, the victims described these international trips as Mission trips, ‘Work and Witness’ trips, and/or affiliated with the Susanville Church of the Nazarene.”
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