Police, AG say citizen group targeting sexual predators causes more harm than good

by Site Contributor

Police in Edgerton are raising concerns about a citizen group aimed at catching sexual predators.

Worldwide Predator Hunters was created about a month ago by Johnny Pretty, an Edgerton resident. Pretty said he is trying to lure sexual predators so he can expose them online.

Pretty has four children, and says he learned quickly how dangerous certain phone apps could be.

“I put a profile up on one of these apps,” he said. “Within three minutes, we got people messaging us.”

Pretty says he went to police to discuss the issue, but didn’t get the response he was looking for.

“The reason I’m taking matters into my own hands is because I called Rock County and they told me they don’t have the funds to be doing what I’m doing,” he said.

Modeling his group after other online groups formed with the same purpose, Pretty began to recruit members, which he calls “hunters”.

Group members pose as teenagers online and set up a time to meet. When group members meet with the “predators,” they stream the confrontation live online. Pretty said even men from as far away as Illinois have come to Edgerton for the phony meet ups.

Police are concerned luring potentially dangerous predators into the city could do more harm than good for the community.

“They are making our lives more stressful,” Edgerton Police Department Lt. Randy Meehan said. “It would have been helpful if this group came to us from the very beginning so we could’ve tied up all the loose ends.”

Pretty says predators coming to Edgerton could happen in a real life situation, however.

“What if it were a real kid?” he said. “A real kid is going to bring that predator to Edgerton.”

WIsconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel has released a statement about vigilante groups in Wisconsin trying to lure sexual predators into their towns to confront them. Strong words here from the AG. #News3 @WISCTV_News3 pic.twitter.com/eBXdTorSrw

— Adam Duxter WISC-TV (@News3Adam) September 26, 2018

Attorney Genreral Brad Schimel said in a statement Wednesday that groups like this are more likely to help bad guys go free than put them behind bars.

“Just confronting the suspect on your own can be highly dangerous, and you run the major risk of ruining evidence for a criminal prosecution,” Schimel said in the statement. “In the strongest of terms, DOJ discourages these organizations from continuing to operate in this manner”.

Schimel advised that anyone who suspects someone is preying on children to contact law enforcement officers, who have the training and resources to put predators behind bars.

Pretty said World Predator Hunters is meant to serve as a “vigilante group” that’s dedicated to keeping children safe. He says that police aren’t doing enough to protect people from predators.

“I don’t see any police stations on their websites announce apps that these kids are going on and being harmed on,” he said.