The leader of a controversial “creep catchers” vigilante group that seeks to put pedophiles in jail has found himself under arrest.

Ryan LaForge, the head of the Surrey Creep Catchers group, was arrested Wednesday night on a warrant for contempt of court.

Police took LaForge into custody after responding to reports that two men were chasing someone through a Surrey, B.C. shopping mall.

At the time, LaForge was trying to take part in another Creep Catchers' sting. Such stings typically involve luring adults into public places by pretending to be underage girls then confronting them on camera.

It’s a practice that police have repeatedly condemned, saying such stings can hamper their investigations into sex crimes. They have also said that vigilante stings are a risk to the safety of the alleged suspects and those attempting to expose crimes.

An arrest warrant had been issued for LaForge after he refused to comply with a Chilliwack judge’s order to delete online posts referencing two men who are suing LaForge, claiming they were falsely targetted in a sting. The video of that sting remains easy to find on YouTube.

The Chilliwack judge's order is separate from another order the B.C. Privacy Commissioner made in July, which demanded the Surrey Creep Catchers take down videos and personal information relating to two individuals who were targets of Creep Catchers stings.

The commissioner found that the Creep Catchers had collected and disclosed the complainants’ information without their consent. He ordered they destroy the information and to ask others who disseminated it to remove and destroy it as well.

Despite the allegations of repeatedly targetting innocent individuals, LaForge remains a hero to many people in Vancouver.

He has had run-ins with police before, and is currently facing charges of assault and uttering threats in connection with two violent confrontations in Surrey malls.

A video of LaForge’s arrest Wednesday is now being used to drum up support for Surrey Creep Catchers on social media and to direct people to the group's Christmas fundraiser, which follows at least one other event held earlier this year to raise money.

With reports from CTV Vancouver's Ben Miljure and David Molko