A man who thought he was on his way to meet up with a 15-year-old boy for sex has been caught in the act by a group of ‘creep catchers’ in New Zealand.
The ‘child sex predator’ – who claimed to be 39 – allegedly brought condoms to meet up with a young man who he believed would be turning 16 in three weeks time.
He also dressed in a suit and tie to ‘role play as a teacher’, for the night-time meet up at a secluded cul de sac in Auckland.
But when he arrived to find the veteran ‘paedo hunters’ instead of an underage male, he tried justifying his actions, saying he ‘would never intentionally harm anyone.’
The ‘child sex predator’ (pictured) – who claimed to be 39 – was busted by ‘creep catchers’ in New Zealand on his way to meet up with a 15-year-old for sex Saturday night
Despite the ‘catchers’ relentlessly pointing out a child under 16 is unable to legally give consent, the predator proclaimed his intentions were innocent.
‘I would absolutely never do anything with someone who was unwilling to do in, in this case I believe the person was interested, they were willing, I was not forcing them or anything like that,’ he told the group.
‘I would never intentionally and hope never unintentionally actually harm the person.’
The New Zealand Creep Catchers routinely pose as underage children online to lure in predators, then share videos of their busts to social media.
The citizen stingers didn’t buy the man’s story for a second, clearly seeing through his ‘manipulation’ tactics, which he frequently used to dull down the severity of his actions.
‘Tonight we caught another predator attempting to have sex with an under-aged child. The man, 39 years old (so he says, but probably 48) from Auckland, was caught by the New Zealand Creep Catchers,’ they wrote in a Facebook post.
‘This creature has brought condoms and dressed up in a shirt and tie in order to role play as a teacher in which he expressed desire to have anal and oral sex with a minor.’
The lengthy exchange between the predator and group, which lasted nearly 25 minutes, left social media users outraged after it was uploaded on Saturday.
He allegedly brought condoms to meet up with a young man who he believed would be turning 16 in three weeks time
More than 500 frustrated commenters condemned the man’s behaviour, with them angered at how little remorse he showed for his actions.
‘He’s f***ing disgusting. Creatures like this roaming our country. Educate and hold your children close people. Thank you creep catchers, keep up the good work,’ one disgusted viewer wrote.
‘Absolutely vile and even trying to justify what he’s doing f***ing creep… one bullet through his head would be the perfect ending to this story,’ another added.
Several praised the team’s effort: ‘Good work guys. We need people like you to catch these scum bags and name and shame them. I have no sympathy for these so called men you guys catch out at all. Nice work and keep it up.’
He dressed in a suit and tie to ‘role play as a teacher’, for the night-time meet up at a secluded cul de sac in Auckland
After the first heated exchange, the man got into his car and began driving away, only to approach the group again to continue justifying his motives.
When he continued to avoid making an apology or showing any sign of remorse, the group urged that he get in his car and go home.
Eventually – just as he was getting in his car for the second time – he made his confession.
‘Yes, for the viewers I’m sorry, I’m sorry I came here tonight, I’m sorry you came out, I never wanted to hurt anyone, that’s true, that’s always been true. I made some bad decisions.’
In a statement to Daily Mail Australia, New Zealand police urged such ‘suspicious behaviour’ be reported to authorities, rather than dealt with privately.
‘Police are aware of the Facebook page NZ Creep Catchers and while we understand the community’s frustration at criminal offending and the power of social media to spread information, we recommend potential offending or suspicious behaviour is reported directly to Police,’ the statement read.
‘Vigilante action such as this could harm current and future Police investigations targeting online offenders. Police would hate to see actions such as these hinder or prevent a prosecution against an online offender.
We strongly discourage members of the public from taking matters into their own hands as they could place themselves and members of the public at risk.
Police encourages anyone who has concerns about potential offending to contact us immediately. All complaints will be taken seriously and followed up as appropriate.’
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