But … City Of Delray Beach Police, Boca Raton Police Are Making Arrests With Non-Law Enforcement Vigilantes Like “561 Predator Catcher.” Prosecution Issue?
BY: ANDREW COLTON | Editor and Publisher
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2024 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — A private Palm Beach County “vigilante” group that is luring alleged sexual predators by posing as children — then confronting the alleged predators in public locations and calling cops — is a problem. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, the Broward Sheriff’s Office, and others say they will have nothing to do with “561 Predator Catcher” — or similar organizations — who may be violating the law while trying to find people violating the law.
”As members of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force,” wrote Sgt. Thomas McInerney of the Broward Sheriff’s Office Strategic Investigations Division, “we are prohibited from working with vigilantes. These online/social media vigilante groups continue to be a problem nationwide and we are seeing more of them popping up here in South Florida.”
But as BocaNewsNow.com has reported, the Delray Beach Police Department and the City of Boca Raton Police Department are making arrests based on the work of these vigilantes. The arrests raise significant questions about evidence, tactics, and whether a private citizen conducting a sting actually constitutes a prosecutable offense. Predator stings became popular years ago as a result of Dateline NBC’s “To Catch A Predator” segments, but NBC stopped the franchise when a suspect killed himself, and legal questions were raised about the tactics used by the network to lure alleged perpetrators.
Ted White, a spokesperson for the Delray Beach Police Department, issued this statement when BocaNewsNow.com asked about two recent arrests carried out after police were called by a man stating his name is Dustin Lampros — the leader of “561 Predator Catcher.”
”Like all arrests conducted by the Delray Beach Police Department, our officers and investigators must establish probable cause before effecting an arrest. In the specific incident you’re inquiring about, probable cause was established by our officers or investigators involved. The responding officers are working closely with our investigative unit, which in turn is working closely with the State Attorney’s Office on these cases. The Delray Beach Police Department is in no way affiliated with these groups. We do not approve, condone, encourage, or promote their actions.”
Lampros, according to an arrest report reviewed by BocaNewsNow.com, lured Oscar Apuli from his Kings Point home to the Delray Beach Walmart earlier this month. Lampros claimed to be a child seeking sexual contact. When Apuli arrived, according to the police report, Lampros confronted him in the Walmart, then called Delray Beach Police. Police arrested Apuli and charged him with ‘traveling to meet a minor for a sexual act’. But no law enforcement officer was involved in the investigation or “sting” that led Apuli to Walmart. Lampros is involved in at least two other arrests — one in Delray Beach and another in Boca Raton — over the past few weeks. Delray Beach Police also made an arrest when Lampros lured Christopher Burt to the same Walmart. And the City of Boca Raton Police Department arrested a man that Lampros claimed was looking for sex with a 14-year-old boy at the Denny’s restaurant on Palmetto Park Road.
Marc Freeman, spokesperson for the Office of Palm Beach State Attorney David Aronberg, said an arrest doesn’t necessarily lead to a prosecution.
“We can’t speculate about whether these new cases from Delray Beach (or Boca Raton) will ultimately result in successful prosecutions. As always, we review arrests and evidence from law enforcement on a case by case basis. Generally speaking, we can have successful prosecutions with information supplied by citizens and/or citizen groups. As these are pending cases, we are unable to discuss specifics outside of the courtroom.”
Defense Attorneys speaking generically with BocaNewsNow.com say this isn’t the same as an actual victim claiming he or she was assaulted and calling the police. This is a sting conducted by a private citizen that shouldn’t ever lead to an arrest.
”You have a vigilante faking his identity to lure someone so that he can claim that person committed a crime. None of it’s real. No one supports child predators, but there’s a reason law enforcement is law enforcement. Cops shouldn’t be making arrests based on the claim of some guy looking for clicks on social media who happens to be recording when an alleged perp, and the police, show up. It’s very, very staged.”
It is unclear if there have been any successful prosecutions of cases initiated by the work of vigilante groups like “561 Predator Catcher,” or if civil litigation may be filed against the organization. The Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office says it, too, as a member of the ICAC Task Force, will not engage with groups like 561 Predator Catcher. Law enforcement sources say they are surprised that the City of Delray Beach and the City of Boca Raton are engaging in this sort of “questionable” police work that violates ICAC rules.
