As the founder of Predator Poachers, Alex Rosen has set out to make the world a safer place for kids both online and offline. Rosen spoke to investigative journalist Kristin Thorne about the group’s initiative during the latest episode of Us Weekly’s Uncovered, revealing how they find pedophiles online.
“So you guys essentially pose as a minor online, and then do you go out and try to find people? Or do you wait till they come to you?” Thorne asked Rosen during the new episode.
Rosen responded by saying that finding pedophiles online is “not hard.” He shared, “I bet you could find probably 100 pedophiles online in a week, and that’s being conservative about it.”
“Finding them is not hard. The hard part is the logistics, selling that you’re a real kid, the tediousness of it,” he continued. “As for just, you know, identifying yourself as an underage kid online, you’re going to find a lot of pedos. Just the follow through is the tricky part.”
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Predator Poachers is a Houston-based organization that conducts sting operations on adults who connect with minors online with the intention of participating in sexual activities.
After the Predator Poachers meet predators online, they make plans to meet up in person and ultimately confront the pedophiles. Not only have they caught many pedophiles in the act of trying to meet with minors, but the Predator Poachers have also helped police officers make arrests.
Rosen also opened up to Thorne about his goal for the Predator Poachers. “My hope is that, you know, criminals are put away and the laws actually enforce how it should be,” he told Thorne. “For example, in Texas, online solicitation of a minor, basically them going after a fake decoy account, is up to 20 years in prison.”
He went on to note that he and the Predator Poachers have caught “some people” who were only “sentenced to probation” for trying to meet up with minors.
He then criticized some of the lax sentences that predators have been given. “I got more time for going 100 miles per hour in Virginia. I got 10 days in jail for that,” Rosen said. “I got more time for that than some pedophiles get for having child pornography on their phones, trying to rape a kid.”
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Rosen said he has heard that many “laws need to change,” though he believes that the “number one thing” to do in order to stop pedophiles is to enforce the existing laws.
He said that “enforcing and penalizing them” will hopefully hold pedophiles accountable and will influence them to stop targeting minors.
“There’s some place in Texas that goes so hard on them, and I appreciate it,” he said, reiterating that other states only give “probation” to adults soliciting sex from minors.
Thorne also reminded parents that they should be aware of who their kids are communicating with on their phones. “Parents, you also have a role in this. If this is a phone or device that you have paid for for your child, you should be on there looking at what they’re doing,” she said. “Who are they talking to? Go into their messages. Make sure you know the passcode for their devices.”
