Update: Maine Police to Probe Predator Poacher’s Bust To Ensure Rights of Alleged Pedo Weren’t Violated

Update 4:35PM – The Maine State Police responded to Infowars’ request for comment, labeling allegations the agency was shielding a suspected child predator from justice “absurd.”

In their statement, the state law enforcement agency dubs the Predator Poacher group’s tactics baiting child predators online “at best questionable and at worst coercive,” going on to state, “There are investigatory standards that law enforcement is charged with when investigating child exploitation and are duty bound to follow.”

Read the response below:

Thanks for reaching out. The claims that the Maine State Police is protecting an alleged child predator is absurd. Here is our statement.

The Maine State Police and the Computer Crimes Unit Task Force is aware of several groups nationwide that conduct their own private investigations into child exploitation. It’s our understanding and experience that the tactics that are employed by these groups are at best questionable and at worst coercive. When private groups choose to freelance there is no way to verify all of their tactics. There are investigatory standards that law enforcement is charged with when investigating child exploitation and are duty bound to follow. A joint independent and proper investigation into this alleged conduct is underway by law enforcement at this time to ensure the rights of all involved.

The Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit and Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received 1,753 cyber tips during 2023. There are 6 full time investigators along with affiliates from departments across the state conducted 415 investigation in 2023 resulting in 82 arrests. We conducted 46 community outreach presentations on internet safety for children reaching 4459 people. Our digital forensics lab examined over 1000 devices totaling 256,564 gigabytes of data . We take online child exploitation very seriously in this state, as seriously as we take protecting the rights of those who are investigated for criminal allegations.  

The Maine State Police additionally posted the statement on X:

Predator Poacher frontman Alex Rosen responded on X, saying the agency had to be persuaded to accept the group’s evidence only due to social media pressure.

“We literally have to persuade them to take the video evidence of a child predator in their community, via social media attention… If it wasn’t for Twitter, we’d never hear about this case again,” Rosen wrote, adding, “Think about that. Just say that you guys are clowns. It’s okay.”

Original story continues below…

Police in Maine say they’re investigating the Predator Poacher group’s recent bust of an alleged pedophile, claiming they want to ensure the rights of the suspect weren’t violated.

In footage recorded by group leader Alex Rosen, a Somerset County officer can be heard telling Rosen he was under orders not to accept evidence from the group, which had just garnered a taped confession of guilt from an alleged child predator they’d baited online, and that only information given to the officer by the suspect could be accepted.

“We had a catch today in Maine where the PREDATOR admits to real life victims, child porn, an attraction to infants, and sexual intent with a 13-year-old decoy… All of this was bundled into a 2 hour long confession, and Somerset county cops didn’t want to even view the evidence. Instead they let a dangerous predator drive off…” Rosen documented on X Sunday, tagging the Maine State Police in the post.

🚨 We had a catch today in Maine where the PREDATOR admits to real life victims, child porn, an attraction to infants, and sexual intent with a 13-year-old decoy… All of this was bundled into a 2 hour long confession, and Somerset county cops didn’t want to even view the… https://t.co/ua1uDIIX1a pic.twitter.com/quMZfk6x2L

— Alex Rosen (@iFightForKids) January 29, 2024

Rosen published screenshots of graphic text message conversations exchanged with the alleged child predator, who believed he was speaking to a 13-year-old before attempting to go meet the child in person.