Surrey Creep Catchers face defamation claims

Men say they were wrongly targeted by vigilante group

VANCOUVER— A vigilante group that claims to expose alleged pedophiles is facing two defamation lawsuits in British Columbia, including one from a man who criticized the group’s practices in an online commentary that he says led to him wrongly being called a pedophile.

Sean Smith of Campbell River filed a notice of claim in B.C. Supreme Court on March 16 against the president of the Surrey Creep Catchers, Ryan LaForge, alleging he identified Smith as a pedophile in a series of public posts on Facebook.

Smith says as a result, he received response posts threatening him with death or bodily harm.

Smith is seeking damages to be determined by the court. None of the allegations made in the lawsuit have been proven in court.

The Surrey Creep Catchers is part of a loose collection of groups across Canada that claim to expose people they suspect to be child sexual predators by posing as minors online, then arranging to meet their unsuspecting targets so they can confront them and broadcast the resulting footage online.

LaForge has not filed a statement of defence, but in an interview he said he is exercising his right to free speech.

“I’m allowed to have my opinion,” he said. “He claims he doesn’t agree with pedophilia and their acts but yet everything he does, every minute of every day he spends is to put us down and defame myself and my crew.”

Smith’s lawyer, John Nelson, said there is a lack of civility online, but comments made in cyberspace can have far-reaching consequences.

“I think we’re starting to see more and more people seek redress for what is said . . . because, simply put, cyberspace can’t police itself,” he said.

Smith’s lawsuit follows another notice of claim that was filed against LaForge by Jamie Su of Abbotsford in B.C. Supreme Court on Feb. 28. Su’s lawyer, Christopher Terepocki, says he will not comment on the case until after it has concluded.

The notice of claim says on Feb. 6 and thereafter, Su was identified in a series of false and malicious communications on Facebook suggesting that he was “involved in a scheme to procure sexual relations with an underaged female.”

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

British Columbia’s Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner has also started an investigation of Surrey Creep Catchers after receiving a complaint, but it has not released any further details.