Dad in Abbotsford recognized, helped catch online predator
Posted September 22, 2011 12:24 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
ABBOTSFORD (NEWS1130) – The Abbotsford Police Department has commended a dad who helped catch a child predator who was trying to lure his daughter online. But police are not advocating this type of work to everyone.
The father set up a Facebook account as a 15 year old girl and then “friended” the 33-year-old in question. Constable Ian MacDonald is hesitant to call this vigilante justice. “More along the lines of diligence.”
“In this fathers case, he was concerned that this sex predator had not desisted from his conduct. [The father] did not put himself or others in harm’s way.”
“It’s not something we are advocating that everyone should take on these fake personas,” MacDonald explains. “I want to emphasize that in the case of this gentleman, he was working closely with one of our major crime unit detectives… and he also had some personal interest in the matter.”
The predator was living in Abbotsford, but was actually from the States. He’s now been deported.
