A child predator sting operation set up by a Texas social media figure last week resulted in two arrests in Keizer and a confrontation with police in Albany.
The leader of the private sting, a YouTube figure from Texas, has since pressed officials in both cities about the cases.
Questions have emerged about how the stings were conducted and whether criminal prosecutions can proceed.
Lt. Trevor Wenning of the Keizer Police Department said the case developed on Tuesday, March 20, when a group calling itself EDP Watch called about a sting in progress.
Police subsequently responded to a report that afternoon of a “suspicious person” in the area of North Appleblossom Avenue and Jack Street. They arrested a Keizer man on accusations of online sexual corruption of a child. That crime involves a person using the internet to solicit a child to engage in sexual conduct who then “takes a substantial step toward physically meeting with or encountering the child.”
Later that day, they arrested a Portland man on multiple charges relating to sexual corruption of a child and possessing material depicting child sexual activity.
“The complainant involved in both of these cases belongs to an organization that exposes child predators,” according to a statement from Wenning. “The Keizer Police Department had no previous knowledge of the organization’s intent to conduct operations in the city of Keizer and simply responded to the call for service in both instances.”
Prosecutors in Marion County District Attorney Paige Clarkson’s office subsequently charged Christopher Loyd, 41, of Portland, with two counts of encouraging child sex abuse I, a class B felony.
That crime involves disseminating “a visual recording of sexually explicit conduct involving a child while being aware of and consciously disregarding the fact that creation of the visual recording of sexually explicit conduct involved child abuse.”
Loyd was released from custody after his initial court appearance last week.
Court records show that as of Monday, March 24, no formal charges had been filed against the Keizer man. Clarkson’s office didn’t respond to questions about the matter.
Wenning said the Keizer agency hasn’t been told whether prosecution of the Keizer man has been dropped.
EDP Watch is led by JiDon Adams, who online goes by the name JiDion. He has a Youtube channel with more than 8 million subscribers.
The group alerted media before contacting police about the Keizer operation, Wenning said.
“There was no child victim whatsoever” in the Keizer sting, Wenning said. “It was a decoy.”
He said police don’t know how a group based in Texas ended up in Keizer.
The tactics were worrisome, he said.
“There are definitely procedures we have to follow in order to secure good solid convictions,” Wenning said.
He said police agencies don’t encourage such private operations that leave police unclear about what is happening.
“The more concerning thing is what if they catch that right person, who has a weapon, and chooses to use it,” Wenning said.
A child predator sting orchestrated by police in the Seattle area last year turned deadly. A suspected predator drew a gun when officers entered his hotel room to make an arrest. Officers shot and killed the man.
“We don’t want to be cops,” JiDion told The Oregonian. “We just hope that the police hear our calls, and hear our cries for help. The community loves what we do and they support this.”
Last week, he recorded a confrontation with a sergeant in the Albany Police Department following a separate sting operation there.
Laura Hawkins, the department’s public information officer, said JiDion called media before contacting Albany police.
The sting unfolded at an Albany Walmart and was “sprung on us,” Hawkins said. She said responding officers “don’t know what’s going on.”
“These situations put us at a perilous disadvantage,” the agency said in a statement last week. “This method of investigating a crime is not recommended for untrained and non-sworn people and can be particularly dangerous.”
Police did arrest a Corvallis man for an outstanding parole warrant but didn’t accuse him of child sex crimes.
JiDion posted video he recorded while challenging a police sergeant about reporting the sting and about charges. Sgt. Curtis Bell advised JiDion to submit a report using the agency’s online system and then ordered the YouTuber out of the police station.
JiDion called Bell a “liar” and then used an expletive in calling him a “loser.”
Hawkins said police are continuing their investigation into potential child abuse crimes.
“We’re having some trouble getting the evidence from the group,” she said.
She noted that prosecution would require testimony from the decoy, and police haven’t established whether the decoy used by the group would be available.
In Keizer, JiDion called Mayor Cathy Clark regarding the Keizer case. She passed his message on to police.
The private group uses its sting operations to market sales on its website. The group sells clothing, such as a hoodie for $54.45, and sells monthly memberships promising “raw, unfiltered content that you won’t find anywhere else.”
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