The latest attempt to exploit vulnerable people. I should clarify why these entrapment operations are bad. Many people caught in these operations are approached by these folks on legitimate adult dating sites. Most often, they claim to be over age 18. They often form online relationships with their victims, then perform a bait-and-switch by then claiming they're really under age 18 later on, most often just as the victim has already made arrangements to meet. In some cases, the bait-and-switch did not even occur on time. The victim is then harassed, assaulted, and/or extorted. Many of these entrapment busts are posted online. Few, if any, of the vigilante-run operations lead to arrests. Some vigilantes have even been arrested, and rightfully so.
Scottsdale police warning of dangerous teen trend, luring child p***ators
By Sarah Robinson
Published: Aug. 2, 2024 at 8:02 PM CDT
A new social media trend is causing concern among Valley police officers.
In the past few weeks, there have been multiple cases of teens attempting to lure potential child predators and then posting their encounters online.
The trend is reminiscent of a 2000s TV show, To Catch a P***ator.
But police say these operations should only ever be done by trained professionals, not teen vigilantes.
Scottsdale police officers want parents to talk to their kids about this social media trend and help stop it.
Experts say luring a potential child predator is extremely dangerous and can turn violent in an instant.
Scottsdale Police Sgt. Allison Sempsis says it can also end in charges against the teens.
“No. 1, someone can get seriously hurt, even killed in these types of situations,” Sempsis said. “Please do not do this. Stop if you’re doing it. And check and see if your children are doing it.”
She says many things can go wrong in these encounters, and the teens involved could get into trouble.
“We don’t want anyone to get arrested if they were to do something like criminal damage or assault, where there is not probable cause to arrest the actual alleged child predator but to arrest the people luring this person in,” Sempsis said.
Sempsis says there have been two cases in Scottsdale in the past few weeks.
“As the alleged suspect pulled into the parking lot he saw that he was surrounded by cars full of teenagers,” Sempsis said. “Once he backed out, one of the teenagers threw a rock through his back window, breaking it and then he took off.”
In a second case, after teens confronted a would-be predator in person, they demanded money or said they would report him to the police.
“That is extortion and it is a felony offense in Arizona,” said Russ Richelsoph, a criminal defense attorney.
Even if teens did successfully expose a would-be predator, Richelsoph says attorneys would have a tough time prosecuting that person.
“When police conduct these sting operations, they have to be very careful to not engage in something called entrapment. Entrapment is a situation where the police plant an idea into the mind of an otherwise innocent person and kind of convince them to commit the crime,” Richelsoph said.
Both cases in Scottsdale are under investigation; so far, no arrests have been made.
Still, Sgt. Sempsis says it’s a good idea to explain to your teen why this social media trend is a bad idea.
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