Howard County prosecutor warning against citizen sting operations

The Howard County Prosecutor Mark McCann says they have seen an increase in the number of what they are calling social media "Vigilante" groups.

Is warning citizen run vigilante groups about the danger of the sting operations they've been posting online.

He's warning the groups not to take law in to their own hands.

The facebook page predator catchers indianapolis has over 87-thousand followers.

The group pretends to be minors in order to lure and then confront suspected online predators.

They usually live- stream those interactions on facebook.

Don whitehead an investigator with the howard county prosecutors office says confrontations of this nature are capable of turning violent quickly.

This type of crime along with any other type of crime should be handled by law enforcement, by trained people to keep the integrity of that investigation as well as the safety of all those involved and anyone who might be close by.

Whitehead said these groups do not have the support of law enforcement.

He added that it's very unlikely any of these stings would be admissible in a court of law.

New details are coming to light