A newly revamped vigilante justice group says it has led West Kelowna RCMP to two alleged pedophiles this month, including one who was arrested on Monday.
Creep Hunters Director Brendon Brady says the 46-year-old man was expecting to meet a 15-year-old girl. The girl was really Brady acting as a decoy online and the man was instead greeted by RCMP officers.
Brady says unlike other groups, they don't take the law into their own hands by confronting or publically shaming the alleged pedophiles.
“Our job is to gather the information and to forward it on to the policing department, in this case it was the West Kelowna RCMP,” he says “and they go and confront the person, and if they feel that there is enough explicit content in the chat logs and so forth they will make an arrest at their own discretion.”
The group does not have an official partnership with law enforcement.
When they first formed last year, Creep Hunters would confront alleged pedophiles and post videos of the encounter online, with one video leading to charges against a Kamloops Sherriff last September; however Brady says they are a completely different group now.
The people involved back then are no longer with Creep Hunters and the group changed their tactics since Brady became the Director, because he didn’t like the “public shaming” approach.
“I felt that it was very disgusting that, you know, after we did our confrontation the guy just walked away and got back into his car and was free to go on with his day, I didn’t think it was right.”
Creep Hunters Canada Society even recently got approved as a registered non-profit organization.
Brady says he’s reported about 30 alleged pedophiles to law enforcement in British Columbia and Alberta since December, with all but two getting arrested. He will still film the encounter between police officers and the alleged pedophiles and post it online, but won’t show anyone’s identity.
Kelowna RCMP Corporal Jesse O’Donaghey confirmed West Kelowna officers arrested a 46-year-old South Okanagan man at a coffee shop on Monday after receiving information from Creep Hunters, but would not confirm if other people have been arrested in the area this month. The unidentified man has since been released from custody and is expected to appear in court at a later date for potential charges.
When asked what the RCMP’s stance on this form of vigilante justice is, he said their response remains the same.
“We are always concerned when people decide to bypass law enforcement and take matters into their own hands,” he said in a written response “When that happens there is a risk that investigations can be jeopardized and key evidence can be lost.”
Brady says his interactions with police officers at the scene of confrontations and arrests have been positive.
The group is also active in some parts of the U.S. and U.K.