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A University of B.C. law professor has warned that stings conducted by vigilante groups to shame child predators could backfire with violent results.

On Friday, Surrey RCMP announced that an officer had been taken into custody following a livestream of a sting by the vigilante group Creep Catchers. The unidentified officer was released from custody Saturday and is suspended from duty. Police said they are continuing to work with Crown counsel with respect to criminal charges.

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Posing as minors, the Creep Catchers set up fake online-dating profiles to lure suspected predators to meeting spots. They then film the interaction and post footage online to shame the suspect.

Similar stings were used in the controversial reality series To Catch A Predator and have been conducted by other groups in B.C.

Benjamin Perrin, an associate professor at UBC’s Peter A. Allard School of Law, said that while such stings uncovered the “really horrific behaviour” of Internet child luring, “the end doesn’t justify the means.”