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Editor’s Note: This article discusses sexual assault. If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can call RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
CLEVELAND — A vigilante group that tries to catch sex offenders before they hurt children is getting pushback from Ohio law enforcement.
Brian Knepp is the founder of 814 Pred Hunters. The group uses volunteer “decoys,” or adults that pose as children online, to catch sex offenders.
“I had somebody I called my friend, which raped the child that I left around my grandkids without a worry,” Knepp said. “That’s kind of where it started.”
Knepp said the men he catches make contact with the decoys all on their own. Once someone makes contact, Knepp said his team follows a strict protocol. He said his team only acts when the conversation is sexual in nature and when the suspect confirms they believe they are speaking to a minor.
“Once they check all those boxes, then we can start talking to them, setting up a meeting,” Knepp said. “I don’t ever want to give a bad case to a police agency at all, because I want their trust and their respect.”
Using Facebook Live, Knepp recorded one of these meetings with who he believes is a potential child predator. In the video, Knepp confronts the man, saying, “you obviously knew you were coming to this intersection to meet a 15-year-old girl to take her to the woods to have sex with her.”
In the video, the man is seen saying, “I made a mistake. I was stupid, and I am very sorry, very sorry.”
Although the video appears to show the man expressing an intent to have sex with a child, nothing happened.
“For it to be a crime, it actually has to be somebody under the age of 16 or law enforcement posing as somebody under the age of 16,” Lake County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Robert Izzo said. “There really isn’t a mechanism in the law itself for a private citizen to be doing this and for it to actually be a crime.”
Due to Ohio’s law and because of the potential danger associated with confronting an offender, Izzo discourages vigilantism.
“Our message to them was, if you’re going to be out there doing this, if you come across something in Ohio, especially in Lake County, here’s our contact information,” Izzo said. “Please get a hold of us early on in the investigation so that we can then take over.”
In a written statement posted to Facebook in early August, Izzo said the Lake County Sheriff’s Office is very serious about prosecuting sexual offenders.
“Our SORN Unit is among the most (if not the most) knowledgeable and competent in the state,” Izzo wrote. “If you conduct these types of private investigations, you are inhibiting the investigation, not helping.”
Knepp said he has caught more than 200 suspected offenders. Of those individuals, Knepp said about 35% have been prosecuted. He said he has more success working with law enforcement and prosecutors in Pennsylvania, where his group is based.
Despite the pushback from Ohio law enforcement, Knepp said he isn’t going to stop.
To keep children safe, Knepp suggests parents limit their child’s internet access and monitor what they do online. He said his decoys often make contact with predators on Facebook, Snapchat and Roblox.
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