(KGTV) — A photographer with a social media following in the thousands was arrested last week after a sting by a vigilante group known as CC Unit. "CC" stands for "creep catching".
"What we do is catch online predators who prey on kids," said the group's founder, who goes by the alias "Ghost".
According to Ghost, a decoy social media account run by the group was contacted by Ronald Stephens, a photographer from San Marcos known throughout San Diego County for his work taking pictures of lowrider car events.
Ghost says there were a series of sexually explicit texts between Stephens and the decoy account over the course of a few days before they arranged to meet at a mall in San Clemente. Once there, Ghost, who was recording along with two other group members with cameras, confronted Stephens.
“He actually calls up the decoy and I take my phone out and I pick up the phone. And then he realizes right then and there that the person he was meeting was us," Ghost told ABC 10News.
“He kind of freaks out a bit. He’s like, 'I don’t want to get in trouble. I don’t want to get in trouble. I’m scared of that. I’m scared of going to jail.' I said 'Be honest, what are you here for?' And he admitted he was here for sexual purposes with a 14, he thought it was a 14-year-old.”
Vigilante groups are controversial, with many law enforcement agencies discouraging members from taking part in the kinds of activities done by CC Group.
Ghost says while they do not work with law enforcement, they always give a heads-up to the jurisdiction where the sting will take place. In the case of the Stephens confrontation, Orange County Sheriff's deputies arrived about ten minutes after Ghost approached Stephens.
A department spokesperson confirmed to ABC 10News that Stephens was arrested based on the evidence provided by CC Unit, as well as self-incriminating statements by Stephens.
Besides the potential for danger, experts say cases that rely on vigilante stings can be difficult to prosecute to conviction. However Ghost, who posts videos of his stings online, says he believes his tactics are appropriate. “These guys confess on camera. We don’t need to court for them to be convicted. If they confess on camera and we show all the evidence, I don’t need for them to go to court to say 'hey, I’m guilty.”
