Camas therapist faces sex-related charges

A Camas-based therapist is accused of engaging in sexual conversations with a decoy 13-year-old during an internet sting.

Michael Unger, 49, appeared in Clark County Superior Court on Friday. He’s accused of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes after allegedly having conversations involving sexual topics on Discord, a social media and messaging app primarily used by gamers. Judge Robert Lewis set Unger’s bail at $7,500 with enhanced supervised release and barred him from accessing the internet for illegal purposes.

Unger’s arraignment is scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Unger is a licensed therapist originally from New York City with 20 years of counseling experience focused on anxiety and mood-related concerns, according to his website. His website does not indicate that he works with children.

According to court records, a vigilante group called Decoy DAWGs (Defense Against Web Groomers) posed as a 13-year-old girl and chatted with Unger for a number of days.

The group, according to its website, creates decoys to find and report suspected child predators online in chatrooms and messaging apps.

In one exchange sent to the Camas police department, Unger and the decoy talk about soaping one another down in a shower, according to court records. Others detail him speaking about masturbating and asking the decoy if she wanted to see his penis.

At some point, after Unger was tipped off that he was the subject of a sting operation, he called the head of Decoy DAWGs during a live feed and allegedly said he did have conversations with someone he believed to be a 13-year-old female.

Court records state that Unger knew he was being recorded during the live feed and said previous conversations with the decoy were sexual in nature and he felt terrible about it. He said the aspects of the conversations that turned sexual were wrong and he was deeply sorry. He allegedly asked the head of the vigilante group not to report him and said his behavior was wrong.

In 2024, a 17-year-old female accused Unger of sexual assault, but authorities didn’t find probable cause for his arrest, according to court records. The two allegedly met in an online chatroom, according to court documents.

Camas police arrested Unger on July 16 after they spotted him walking around his neighborhood that morning.