https://www.thenews-messenger.com/story/news/local/2020/01/24/dads-against-predators-shining-light-sexual-predator-issues-fremont/4567322002/
Local group wants to rid Fremont of sexual predators
Craig Shoup, Fremont News-Messenger
Published 5:20 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2020
Men pose online as teen boys to lure suspects to a meeting site
FREMONT - Three men are trying to shed light on a sexual predator problem in Fremont by luring potential sex offenders to a rendezvous site by posing as teen boys, then videotaping the suspects.
But Joshua Mundy and Phillip "Flip" Conley of the group Dads Against Predators do not want to be called vigilantes.
The two, along with a third man who does not want to be identified, are trying to spotlight a problem they say can happen in any community.
"We don't want any copycats. And don't harass the families," Mundy said of what DAP does.
Though they don't call themselves vigilantes, they could be considered such, as Webster's Dictionary defines a vigilante as "a member of a volunteer committee organized to suppress and punish crime summarily (as when the processes of law are viewed as inadequate)."
During a Thursday press conference, Fremont Police Chief Dean Bliss said the group has shined an unfortunate light on predatory issues going on in Fremont, but said he does not encourage that type of justice, because of legal issues.
"I think their hearts are in the right place," Bliss said.
Acting Sandusky County Prosecutor Zak Selvey said there is "significant" evidentiary concerns about these videos being used against suspects in three videos DAP has posted on YouTube.com.
"For a crime to occur, there's a statute in Ohio called the importuning statute which is what we believe cases like these fall under, and it creates issues if the person involved is not a law enforcement officer or actual minor child," Selvey said.
On Tuesday, the group Dads Against Predators posted a video on YouTube in which they confronted Rafael Valadez-Loera, 39, at the Walmart on Ohio 53 in Fremont after the group said they used dating applications and posed as a 14-year-old boy to lure the man to the store to meet for sexual relations.
The video went viral, getting 98,800 views in less than three days.
Valadez-Loera was charged with tampering with evidence, though Bliss did not say if the charges were related to the DAP case.
Two other videos surfaced on the DAP YouTube page, each highlighting men they messaged through apps for sex.
Mundy said he's married with three children and wanted to shine the light on predatory problems in Fremont after discovering videos of similar group in Connecticut called POP (Prey on Predators).
He was inspired to get involved in Fremont by a 2018 case in which police investigated an attempted abduction at Hayes Elementary School
And it has worked for Mundy and Conley, who stay up late, keeping their "fishing pole" online in hopes of catching a big fish.
"They are like fishes," Mundy said about the men they message. "They go away and then 15 minutes later, they're back."
And once the group has the fish hooked, it does not take long to set the wheels in motion to confront the men who are planning sexual relations with what they think is a teen boy.
Mundy said he's sacrificed time with his family to continue working to out potential predators, but the time is well spent if another potential sex offender is outed on the group's YouTube page.
He said he understands the risks involved in meeting strangers, but Mundy said it is more nerves than fear when meeting the men they've lured to the rendezvous.
Mundy said DAP will continue working on outing potential predators but said they will not be partnering with the Fremont Police Department.
"We just want to clean Fremont out," Mundy said of sexual predators.
He added his goal is to see harsher punishment for predators, including chemical castration and the death penalty.
Since the group has begun, Mundy estimates he has received messages from at least 100 people, though not all are from Fremont.
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