Court date soon for mom charged with vigilantism
Taped, hog-tied man alleged to be luring her teen daughter
A Port Alberni mother is in court this month to face charges of vigilantism after she tackled and hog-tied a 28-year-old family friend she alleged was trying to lure her 13-year-old daughter into sex.
The 28-year-old allegedly showed up at suburban home expecting sex from a waiting 13-year-old girl when he was instead punched, tackled and tied up by three adults: The girl’s mother, her stepfather and another man who had come to help.
The aftermath of the April 12 incident was streamed on Facebook Live in a video that was soon circulated by mainstream media outlets around the world.
“He came to my house to meet my 13-year-old f---ing daughter to f--- her ... we f--ing tackled him and zapstrapped him and called the police,” the mother (whose name is being withheld to protect the identity of her daughter) said in the video as she points a smartphone at a bearded man lying bound and silent on her floor.
The video ends when two RCMP officers arrive at the home and announce that the trio is facing charges for assault.
“You’re all being detained for assault right now, sorry,” said an attending officer before seizing the phone being used for the recording.
Before the video ended the mother turned the camera on herself and said “I am arrested because we caught a predator that the police refused to catch.”
In October, B.C. Crown prosecutors confirmed charges of assault and forcible confinement against the three. In a court appearance last week, the mother and stepfather pleaded not guilty to the charges, while the third man is awaiting sentencing after agreeing to a deal with prosecutors that would avoid a trial.
Speaking to the National Post via Facebook message, the Port Alberni mother said the saga began in February when she was checking her daughter’s phone on an unrelated matter and saw lewd Instagram messages from a man who turned out to be a family friend.
She initially approached RCMP with the messages and met several times with an investigating officer.
However, she said she got “discouraged” with the police investigation about six weeks later when she noticed that the suspected child lurer was messaging another social-media account owned by her daughter.
She said RCMP turned down her request to immediately stage a sting to catch the man. Fearful that the man might be targeting other children, she assumed her daughter’s identity on Instagram and agreed to a meeting at the family home.
“He asked to meet, I agreed. He asked for my place. I said OK. He said a few crude things and I agreed or repeated that I had done them,” she told the National Post. She said the exchange included an image of the man rubbing his crotch through his pants as a well as a request that she be stripped down to her panties when he arrived.
The April 12 incident prompted a statement from Port Alberni RCMP that said “at no time should the public take the law into their own hands.” Vigilantism is not only illegal, but has the “potential to compromise the original ongoing investigation,” it added.
“While the investigation remains active and ongoing, we are mindful that the inability to release all of the information known to date has likely contributed to concerns,” Insp. Brian Hunter, the officer in charge of the Port Alberni detachment, said in the April 13 statement.
The incident also prompted community protests in support of the adults’ actions, as well as two Facebook groups and a GoFundMe account in support of the alleged vigilantes.
On April 17, a group of about 15 people gathered outside the Port Alberni RCMP detachment calling for stricter legislation against child sex offenders. “We are protesting for the rights of parents to protect our children. We want change. And we want change now,” said organizer Amanda Mennie, according to a report by Black Press.
Children’s Right Before Predators, a Facebook group started by a close friend of the accused mother, has gathered followers in a campaign to strengthen police powers in cases of child luring. “When there is physical evidence that a grown man is trying to lure a child, that should be an instant arrest,” the page’s founder said. “There should be no paperwork needed to save a child from a lifetime of hurt.”
A GoFundMe page related to the campaign has raised more than $900.
Port Alberni RCMP did not comment on the specifics of their interactions with the mother, but spokesperson Cpl. Amelia Hayden said the investigation is “still ongoing.
“Investigations take time,” she said, adding that police do intervene in cases where public safety is at immediate risk. “Obviously if we think something is truly imminent, depending on what the risk is, we would have to deal with it.”
You’re all being detained for assault right now, sorry.”
Police officer