Calgary man's version of "to catch a predator"

[Thor]

Its like those Republicans that loathe homosexuality and get caught in bathrooms later with a man. Part of me wonders why he's so obsessed with this if there isn't a part of him that gets excited about the idea.

[CaptainCrunch]

You know, I get the whole, his heart is in the right place thing, but I don't think that this guy's is, he's after celebrity status, at least this is what it feels like.

He's not a law enforcement agent, I doubt he's ever taken the training. He's probably made the job harder for the police, and he's probably ignored several legal rights that suspects do have. He's promoting the whole shame and destruction via the internet thing.

I get it, there are some sick people out there, but who in the hell appointed this guy as a guardian angel?

He's like those girls that tried to destroy a guys life in BC, I wonder if he's ever gotten an apology for it. Or like Anonymous that screws up their so called cyber investigations and destroys lives.

The other thing is one day he's going to show up at one of his meetings and someone is going to do him great physical harm. If you mess with the laws of averages with desparate people bad things happen.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Thor

Its like those Republicans that loathe homosexuality and get caught in bathrooms later with a man. Part of me wonders why he's so obsessed with this if there isn't a part of him that gets excited about the idea.

I was thinking the same thing.

"Methinks the closet-pedophile doth protest too much!"

[Russic]

With anything like this there's only one real question to ask: is the punishment solving the problem? It doesn't matter if the issue is pedophiles, drunk driving, or spousal abuse – people always have punishments that they want to see. Personally I'd love it if everybody who blows over .08 on a breathalyzer gets a small bullet in the back of the knee, but that's not a realistic solution to a very real problem. In the same vein, public humiliation of these people intrinsically feels outstanding, but the core problem remains. You can't shame a pedophile into straightening their life out. Further, as people have pointed out he could very easily interfere with a police investigation that could save a real person.

It certainly looks like he found a way to not have a real job.

[Fuzz]

^and fulfill his other fantasy, acting out the life of a teenage girl. Attention whoring and all.

[northcrunk]

From what I've heard the guy was abused as a child and the police didn't do anything to bring the pedophile to justice. At least this guy is doing something to out these perverts.

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by Thor

Its like those Republicans that loathe homosexuality and get caught in bathrooms later with a man. Part of me wonders why he's so obsessed with this if there isn't a part of him that gets excited about the idea.

Man, that was my exact thoughts when I read the story. The guy seems like a creep himself, to be honest.

[Jets4Life]

Originally Posted by northcrunk

From what I've heard the guy was abused as a child and the police didn't do anything to bring the pedophile to justice. At least this guy is doing something to out these perverts.

The irony about people who were abused as children, disproportionately end up becoming abusers themselves. People should be more concerned with stopping the cycle of abuse, than going on some pointless witch-hunt.

At any rate, I would take anything this guy says with a grain of salt.

[PepsiFree]

This might be simplistic thinking but as far as my logic goes: If pedos are so pervasive and dangerous that "catching" them is like shooting fish in a barrel, why aren't there more pedo-related crimes?

While these people are clearly sick, isn't the likelihood of a 12-13 year old posing as an 18 year old, going on an adult chat, and intending to have sex with adult men incredibly rare and unique? Aren't these men essentially being baited with impossible scenarios?

I mean of course, they're worth dealing with, but I think the Police are concerned with dangerous offenders and people actively engaging in their sickness, and less-so the people drawn to impossible situations (at which point, it's impossible to tell if they're actually an attention-worthy threat to society).

Not that I mean they definitely aren't dangerous, but stupid "stings" like what this guy performs don't give any evidence to it at all.

[Jets4Life]

"Creep Catcher is a national network of vigilantes who pose as minors online in order to bait would-be sex offenders, then confront them on camera and share the videos online.

The group, which has begun to splinter into separate organizations, has recently come under fire for wrongly identifying a Mountie and a Surrey, B.C., man as sexual predators and posting a video of a mentally ill woman who later took her own life.

'I thought it was all about the kids'

"I'm all for child justice and stuff like that, and that's why I joined, because I thought it was all about the kids," the Red Deer woman said.

Her opinion changed in July when the group found out that a man they call Ian, an alleged predator from a previous Creep Catcher video, messaged a 14-year-old girl on Facebook and asked her if she was single."

more:

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada...gFp5&ocid=iehp

[The Yen Man]

Kinda ironic they are called creep catchers and are nothing but a bunch of creeps themselves.

[Minnie]

Their "public relations director" lives in Airdrie. He's........well.......yeah. There are no words.

[jayswin]

One day a SJW warrior is going to get killed for engaging in public shaming based on internet "investigations". It's only a matter of time.

[CaptainCrunch]

Last time I checked, Vigilantism is against the law, and will probably result in most of these cases getting thrown out due to illegal methods.

If they had the communications and turned it straight over to the cops to handle the investigation, that's fine, but that's not what they're doing.

Leave the work to the professionals.

I still think its a miracle that one of these people hasn't been shot by entrapping the wrong person.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

If they had the communications and turned it straight over to the cops to handle the investigation, that's fine, but that's not what they're doing..

They don't do it to aid investigations or help anyone they do it for the fun of it, they get to be a part of something.

[Locke]

Methinks they doth protest too much.

[Amethyst]

I'm SHOCKED to hear Dawson Raymond threatening someone. This guy is as creepy as those he chases down in strip mall parking lots.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Locke

Methinks they doth protest too much.

My thoughts exactly. A little too eager to dig into this world and start pointing fingers.

[WhiteTiger]

I found this comment on an article on FB talking some about how this version of Creep Catchers works, and why it doesn't "work":

~~~

"... Why don't they turn what they have over to the authorities to make the meet and collect the evidence in a proper lawful manner."

The creep catcher movement appears to be loosely modeled after the US based group, Perverted Justice. This is the same group that worked with Dateline on their, 'To Catch a Predator' series however there are some key differences:

1: To the best of my knowledge, Perverted Justice does not use a "bait and switch" tactic.

2: Perverted Justice is getting convictions -- hundreds of them, according to their website. To do so, they have had to forge respectful and co-operative relationships with law enforcement.

3: Perverted Justice does not post chat logs until after a conviction is made. These chat logs are very disturbing. You will not find references to people who merely wanted to meet for coffee, a bike ride, a movie, a discussion about art. No. These are hardcore predators.

Contrast that with the creep catcher approach:

1: The standard protocol among creep catchers seems to be to set up a fake profile at an ADULT dating site; they use images of other ADULTS as their profile pic and in their chats; they initially present themselves as the 18+ ADULT the site requires them to be to participate; only later in the chat will the decoy "confess" that they are actually younger.

However, the law states that in order to make a successful conviction of luring or exploitation that it must be shown that the accused "believed" the decoy was a minor. As soon as you introduce a bait and switch, you allow doubt to enter. Creep catchers have built a legal loophole into their protocol. The accused can always claim" "But your Honour, she said she was 18+. When the conversation went in a different direction I thought she was acting out *her* fantasy of being a younger girl. I simply went along with it."

Their insistence on a bait and switch may contribute greatly to the inadmissability of much of their "evidence". Could the creep catchers "catch" as many "potential predators" as they do if they straight up presented themselves as 13, 14, 15? Probably not.

Meantime, there appears to be a great deal of open hostility and lack of respect towards police among many in the creep catcher movement. This can be seen in comments along the lines of: "Police are pigs! They're too busy eating doughnuts to do any real work! They'd rather catch people for dope or speeding!' Sometimes the comments take on a more despairing tone: 'They keep letting those monsters out!' Occasionally, it lapses into paranoia: 'The police, lawyers and judges are all pedophiles themselves -- that's why they cover for each other!'

This complete lack of faith or respect for law enforcement reinforces the belief that vigilante actions are justified. 'Since we can't jail them, we'll shame them."

^ Unless and until this deep rooted hostility is addressed, creep catchers and police are not likely to "forge a respectful and cooperative working relationship".

2: To the best of my knowledge, creep catchers have not gotten a single conviction. We have recently seen two people charged but this is likely only because both those individuals were involved in law enforcement. Will their lawyers be arguing that the bait and switch tactic created confusion and doubt in their clients? Probably. Will either of those two men walk as a result? They might. Thanks creep catchers.

3: Because the onus is upon public shaming, creep catchers are quick to post videos as quickly as they can be loaded up after a confrontation. Chat logs may or may not be posted alongside them. Some of those chat logs contain very clear sexual intent; others may contain absolutely none. In some cases, once the decoy has "confessed" they are a minor, the target insists that no sexual activity can take place. All of these people will be treated as if they are one and the same.

Meantime, I have no doubt that any true predators out there are studying those videos and logs so they can learn what to watch for.

[MoneyGuy]

A Spruce Grove woman committed suicide after being wrongly accused of being a pedophile.

http://www.sprucegroveexaminer.com/2...creep-catchers

In Stony Plain an older man just sitting in his car when accusing photos of him were published on Facebook. Someone thought he was leering at children.

This stuff is very dangerous.