An online vigilante movement attempting to lure and shame suspected sexual predators has snared eight local men in two weeks.
Creep Catcher, which posts videos on YouTube and other social media websites, has 15 chapters across Canada, including one in Thunder Bay.
The group’s members create fake dating profiles on online dating websites, wait to be messaged by other users and then claim to be as young as 13 years old. They then arrange meetings with men they are communicating with, revealing the trap and filming the encounter to post publicly.
“We all know this city has some dirt,” Creep Catcher Thunder Bay president Jeff Belajac said on Tuesday. “Having kids, this kind of thing got my attention.”
But law enforcement isn’t particularly pleased with the group taking justice in their own hands.
Thunder Bay Police Service Const. Julie Tilbury said the organization’s actions are not condoned by police.
“We get it that people are concerned about things and we want to see people safe and things dealt with in an appropriate manner,” Tilbury said.
“However, this is not the way to do it. We would really encourage people if they have concerns to bring that information forward to the police and let us do a proper investigation. Should it lead to criminal charges we will then have the evidence collected properly so it can proceed through our criminal system.”
Civilian investigations, such as the ones conducted by Creep Catcher, can’t result in criminal charges because there is no victim.
As well, by alerting or spooking the target, these type of stings can impede actual investigations.
“The police do multiple investigations a year and they are trained specially to make sure they conduct an investigation in such a way they are allowed to collect evidence that can be used if something is to go to court,” Tilbury said.
“Especially with an online presence of this type, you never know when the police are doing a covert investigation of their own. When people are coming public with this investigation without bringing it forward to police when they first get this information, it does hinder the investigation.”
Belajac said he has spoken with officers on multiple occasions and has not received any indication he is interfering with investigations, though he admitted he has not turned any chat logs or evidence over to police.
He views his role as acting as a complement to the police force.
“It takes a lot more work for them to build these kinds of cases…We have a lot bigger things to worry about. There’s stabbings, gun problems, drugs and stuff like that,” he said.
“I think basically what I’m doing is I’m saving them some time because they don’t really have the time to probably be dealing with all this stuff.”
Publicly shaming the individuals, who have not been proven guilty in court, could potentially create liability for vigilantes if it causes their reputations to be harmed or if they’re violently targeted.
The Creep Catcher group members could also be putting themselves at risk.
“When they are doing these types of investigations you never know who you’re going to be meeting. They assume the person they’re going to be meeting has a true profile on a dating site,” Tilbury said.
“However, they themselves have a fake profile so who are you going to meet, what’s the potential for danger, how is this going to escalate. You never know how someone is going to react to a situation such as this.”
Even though a Swift Current, Sask. member was assaulted during a confrontation, Belajac said he is not worried about being attacked.
“I’ll cross that road when I get there but at this point I don’t really have that concern,” he said.
