Edmonton police say they'd prefer it if a group of pedophile-luring vigilantes would simply have a seat, as they may be doing more harm than good.
Staff Sgt. Paul Czerwonka says the so-called "Creep Catchers" are putting themselves in danger and could be potentially disrupting police investigations, with their attempts to ambush and publicly shame would-be pedophiles across the country. The group, which has members in Edmonton, uses fake online profiles to set up meetings with men looking to have sex with young girls. The Creep Catchers then confront these potential pedophiles in video-recorded encounters that are later posted online.
But Czerwonka says these individuals are "basically obtaining information that we can't use because it's not obtained legally, through authorization, which we (the police) do."
"You have no idea who you're dealing with," Czerwonka said at a recent news conference. He also cautioned that there are a number of guns in the city that could potentially turn one of these ambushes into a deadly confrontation.
However, Creep Catchers founder Dawson Raymond says he's not worried about being harmed by a potential pedophile.
"I'm not afraid of these guys. These guys are cowards in the flesh," Raymond told CTV Edmonton on Wednesday.
Raymond says he creates fake online profiles and waits for would-be pedophiles to get in touch. "We'll get in a conversation with them and within that conversation, I'll mention my age. If they continue to talk to me after that, there's a problem," he said.
Raymond has posted more than two dozen video ambushes on his website since November. In a page explaining Raymond's mission, he says he's out to keep children safe.
"Men and women, young and old, rich and poor; these creeps seem like everyday people but they just ACTED on a dark secret within them," he writes. "Let's hope I can scare a little sense into them so next time they want to meet a 13-year-old for sex, they'll REMEMBER MY FACE and think twice!"
The Creep Catcher stings draw inspiration from the long-running U.S. reality show, "To Catch a Predator," in which host Chris Hansen ambushes men looking to meet underage girls for sex.
The vigilante practice has been spreading in Canada. In February, police in B.C. warned that Creep Catchers were putting themselves at risk and potentially hampering police investigations.
"They may either backlog an investigation or stop an investigation unknowingly because the person would change their behaviour or do something different," Cpl. Jon Stuart of the Nanaimo RCMP said, in a February interview with CTV Vancouver.
With files from CTV Edmonton and CTV Vancouver
