JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — NOTE: The suspect in the online video was rearrested following a police investigation, but the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is warning against the vigilante activity that led up to it. Read the update here.
An online vigilante group that targets people who prey on children is blasting the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office for not arresting a man he claimed had suspicious material involving a child on his phone.
That interaction was captured by the vigilante group on camera and has racked up more than 100,000 views on social media.
“This is going to be made very famous, I guarantee it,” the man filming the video said to officers.
In the video, the man targeted by the vigilante group was briefly detained, but ultimately let go.
“We don’t want to put him in jail and then the case get dropped. We want to build that case,” one officer told the man filming.
The man behind the social media video sent Action News Jax a statement that read in part:
“We almost always have seen on scene arrests when the perp shows the cops evidence... in their presence, including in multiple other jurisdictions in Florida. The community won’t be gaslit to think made up “procedure” supersedes the law.”
The video even spurred a local councilmember to respond.
“Disgusted. He needs to be in jail,” Councilmember Rory Diamond (R-District 13) wrote on social media.
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
Action News Jax was able to verify the man targeted by the vigilante group is a registered sex offender and has an extensive criminal record involving crimes against children.
Due to the fact he has not been named as a suspect or charged with any new crimes at this point, we are not naming him or showing his face.
Local defense attorney Chris Carson explained there are several reasons why officers may not have felt comfortable making an immediate arrest.
“Was this something that was a product of an exchange between the individual and the ‘vigilante’ or his group? It could also be a circumstance where maybe it’s not totally clear that actually what is contained on the device is illegal,” said Carson.
Action News Jax has reported extensively on the potential pitfalls of these types of vigilante sting efforts, including situations that have led to violence and even shots fired.
Detective Ryan Ellis with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office Human Exploitation Group told us in February that mistakes made by vigilante groups can sometimes compromise cases so badly that convictions are unattainable.
“We oftentimes see that these individuals also engage in entrapment-type behavior, which causes us issues on the legal end,” said Ellis.
According to JSO, the vigilante group’s target had his phone confiscated and the matter is being investigated by the agency’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit “thoroughly, competently, and in compliance with the law”.
“If they’ve seized the device, they’re going to be able to go through and figure out exactly what was on there, how it got on there, and if it is in fact illicit material. And if that’s the case, they’ll act accordingly,” said Carson. ”I mean, these are not cases that they treat lightly.”
According to jail logs and court records, it did not appear the individual targeted by the vigilante group had been arrested or charged with any crime as of Monday afternoon.
According to JSO, that individual is, however, a “subject” of the investigation.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
