Catcher caught and caged

He and his crew would try to take car keys from targets while saying they were under citizen’s arrest.

He took his crusade to Taupo¯ for arguably his most dangerous encounter.

The video begins with someone standing behind a car in a driveway.

Bevins is at the front. He announces themselves as non-violent vigilantes. They claim they are placing the person in the car under citizen’s arrest.

As the driver tries to escape, Bevins jumps on the bonnet, saying: ‘‘I’m not scared’’.

His tone soon changes, his breathing indicating someone suddenly realising they are in trouble.

He makes deep throaty screams as the car drives down the road.

His focus goes from capture to survival, as he begs the driver to stop.

The driver complies, giving Bevins and an associate a chance to go for the car keys.

The target once again accelerates, dragging Bevins a few metres down the road before taking off around the corner.

It was the last of his stings, with police arresting him soon after.

Crown prosecutor Joshua Harvey said Bevins deliberately set out to humiliate his targets and disguised his crusade as if it was a public service.

It was a vile scheme, which entrapped innocent people who had good reason to believe Bevins was not underage, he said.

‘‘This is a man who tried to make a name for himself.’’

While Bevins’ stings resulted in no criminal charges against the people he targeted, Surrey Creep Catchers’ evidence has been used in Canadian courts.

Surrey Creep Catchers’ president Ryan Laforge told Global News in 2018 it was ‘‘a breath of fresh air’’ to see their evidence used.

But that air has since soured, as the Canadian Supreme Court ruled in March it was wrong to expect a defendant in a childluring case to prove the person they were talking to was legally old enough.

Meanwhile, Laforge and another member of the group have pleaded guilty to assaulting people during stings.

Laforge has also been slapped with defamation suits in relation to his activities. But Bevins and Laforge are not the only creep catchers.

The movement is global. Victoria University criminology and policing lecturer Trevor Bradley said the movement was born out of frustration at a perceived lack of action by police against child sex abusers and, as awareness of the issue grew, so did outrage.

Additional reporting by Sam Kilmister

‘‘This is a man who tried to make a name for himself.’’ Crown prosecutor Joshua Harvey