Timmins police warn against 'creep catching'
Vigilantes have been posing online as teen girls in an attempt to lure out 'creeps'
Timmins police are warning people not to engage in "creep catching" — a form of vigilantism in which people lure suspected pedophiles out in public to shame, embarrass or attack them.
According to police, citizens who engage in the activity — which has been popularized by such American television shows as To Catch a Predator — post messages and photos on social media posing, in many cases, as a teenage girl.
After contact is made, the "creep" is then lured into public, presumably to "forward a romantic agenda," police said.
Once in public, they are then confronted by the vigilante.
Police said "creep catching" is inherently unsafe, as the person's reaction may be completely unpredictable.
The police also said that if the person who is "caught" is eventually charged with a crime, police may face significant "legal and evidentiary hurdles".
Police say while "creep catching" is not technically illegal, they do not endorse or condone in it any way.
They remind the pubic that they do have an e-crime team that actively investigates illegal activity over the internet.