Comment in Denver Post article provides evidence that so-called "Predator Hunters" are not in it to protect the kids

Years ago, members of Perveryted Justice had admitted they were motivated by, as the put it, "the lulz" (i.e., fun, laughter, or amusement, especially that derived at another's expense, a term that hit its peak usage in the late 2000s). Not much has really changed. Modern "predator hunters" are primarily in it for the fame and for the fun of bullying people. 

The Denver Post article featuring yet another group of Internet Vigilante thugs, this one named "Colorado Ped Patrol", is trying to lure an adult looking for a casual encounter. the Post adds the following:

https://www.denverpost.com/2021/08/11/colorado-ped-patrol-tommy-fellows-police-reaction/

"On this day, the man chatting with (Celeste) Hilton sent a flurry of text messages, many of them vile, about his plans for her. He told Hilton via text that he would drive from Colorado Springs to meet her at a park in Lakewood.

“I give them multiple outs. I don’t just tell them I’m 13 once. I tell them multiple times I’m 13,” she said.

This man takes the out.

Just as (Tommy) Fellows and Hilton were packing their gear for the meetup, the man texted that he wasn’t coming. His message said he was only role-playing and needed someone older than 18.

The excitement evaporated.

“That’s a bummer,” Fellows said."

The reaction to a person who says he has no desire to meet with a 13 year old should be a relief if you truly believe your goal is "protecting children." Instead, Tommy Fellows is "bummed". Why? At least partly because of money:

"When Fellows goes live on his YouTube channel, people immediately tune in. The comments, most of them cheering Fellows on, pour in. He often responds to them as he is confronting a predator, thanking them for their donations and support. People also pay between $4.99 and $19.99 a month to support his mission and receive exclusive video content."

Colorado Ped Patrol is in it for the fun and the money. These groups are simply bullies that found a way to be allowed to ply their trade in a way that gets cheers and beer money. 

The Colorado Springs PD decided not to entertain Fellows. Fellows told KRDO 13, "They’ve never come out like that and said we’re not going to take care of any of your shenanigans." (In the video interview, healso claims his motivation ids because his kid was molested.) Any excuse to try to justify his behavior huh?

As noted by KRDO 13:

CSPD lieutenant James Sokolik says groups like Colorado Ped Patrol are dangerous.

"If you have contacted somebody who is now fearful they are going to be held responsible for a criminal act, there is that potential you could get hurt," Sokolik added.

Sokolik says it's important to note that people like Fellows aren’t police-trained interviewers, and there’s a chance his videos wouldn’t hold up a courtroom.

But Woodland Park Police and CSPD fall under the same district attorney’s office.

"I certainly can’t speak to what Woodland Park [police] did or didn’t do, what information they had ahead of time, or any of that," Sokolik said. "So these are very much different things."

Fellows though, thinks his group is doing important work, and that they are doing the work police agencies, like CSPD, should be doing.

"If they could have got it— well they would have never ran into the guy. That’s the problem, there’s not enough of them out there," Fellows added.

"That would be a ridiculous assumption," Sokolik said. "This is not a competition, that somebody has beat us to it. Somebody would have to have probable cause to affect a lawful arrest, and that’s not given to us by somebody saying 'I had a conversation online.'”

These groups should be outlawed, and Fellows and his cohorts should be locked up.