A father from Surrey, B.C., has been warned by a provincial judge not to bring his four-year-old daughter along for “Creep Catcher” stings targeting suspected child predators.

The warning comes after Lance Loy, 37, was charged with assault in a sting that happened last April, during which his young daughter was present for a takedown. Surrey Creep Catchers president Ryan LaForge was also charged with assault in connection with the sting, which Loy recorded and posted online.

The incident became a point of contention in a recent custody hearing involving Loy and his daughter’s mother, who raised concerns about his decision to expose the girl to potential sex predators.

The provincial judge who heard the case warned Loy not to expose his child to “any Creep Catcher activities,” according to court documents.

“It’s a pedophile environment,” the girl’s mother told CTV Vancouver. “Either he’s sitting there talking beside her about pedophile activities or he’s bringing around pedophiles, potentially.”

The 22-year-old woman added that she felt “disgusted” to learn that her daughter had been involved in a Creep Catchers takedown.

Loy says he kept the girl at a safe distance during the sting. “She wasn’t anywhere near anybody,” he told CTV Vancouver.

The girl’s mother says she was particularly frightened when Loy was arrested for the incident, as she didn’t know what had happened to her girl.

“If Lance didn’t have my daughter, who had her? And as a mother, as a parent, you really worry and you really start to get scared.”

Records show it wasn’t Loy’s first arrest. He was once convicted in an axe attack in the Northwest Territories.

The incident has become another black eye for the Creep Catchers, a vigilante group that has come under fire for its practice of luring potential pedophiles and posting videos “exposing” their behaviour online. The group has been hit with a number of fines and lawsuits, while also receiving many warnings from police to let the professionals take care of things themselves.

Loy says he’s quit Creep Catchers and is spending more time with his daughter.

The allegations against Loy and LaForge in connection with the assault charges have not been tested in court.