Civilian groups have been in operation for about 10 years, posing as children online to catch potential predators. Law enforcement and district attorneys discuss working on a solution for how to handle cases from these groups.
Police and district attorneys across the state have differing opinions on how to handle cases given to them by civilian ‘Pred Hunter’ groups. Those groups have been around for only about 10 years now and pose as children online to catch potential predators in the act.
Law enforcement officers we spoke with say that they are willing to take cases from the groups, if they can be involved early on in the investigation. Authorities explained that if there is not a proper investigation, it can lead to district attorneys being unable to prosecute. Our Emily Marines spoke with several district attorneys in our area, along with the Pennsylvania District Attorneys’ Association, to learn why case law can make it difficult to prosecute cases from those groups.
Multiple district attorneys across multiple jurisdictions -- including Cambria, Blair and Clearfield counties -- sat down with pred hunter groups to work out an appropriate solution for how their different jurisdictions will handle cases from the group. Officials say these cases can be very difficult to prosecute, with some district attorneys not accepting cases from the groups at all. Members of one local pred hunter group say they want to work with law enforcement to get potential predators arrested.
Brian Knepp, founder of the 814 Pred Hunters, says that after going out and confronting alleged predators, several district attorneys made agreements with his group, one that will allow them to work together, including in Cambria and Clearfield counties.
“The Hanover Police wants to do something, but unfortunately, your county DA doesn’t allow them to do anything," Knepp said. Just months ago, the group protested in one western Pennsylvania county because Knepp claims that its district attorney will not take cases provided from his group.
“In that county we have caught six individuals but the DA refuses to do anything, even after a Superior Court decision has backed catch teams in Pennsylvania; She still refuses to do anything. "District attorneys who we spoke with explained that all comes down to case law and Pennsylvania’s statute of limitations.
“The statute does not cover citizen groups like this, so citizen groups communicating with them a lot says they're talking to an adult and therefore it's not talking to a minor, it’s not child solicitation. Whereas if they're talking to a law enforcement agency posing as a minor, that itself is a crime,” explained Somerset DA Tom Leiden.
Until last year, how DAs handled cases with Pred Hunter groups was very up in the air, which officials say makes those cases hard to prosecute.
“In 2025, we received a Superior Court opinion that gave us some guidelines that it doesn't have to be a minor or a law enforcement officer for some offenses to apply when we have these types of groups posing as decoys and communication with an alleged perpetrator,” explained Cambria DA Jessica Aurandt. “With anything new, there's always complications or questions on how it's done.
These organizations have been functioning around the country, in different areas, for a period of time now. And it's just making sure that what they're doing is based on the law here in Pennsylvania and for everyone's safety,” added Clearfield DA Ryan Sayers. Cambria DA Jessica Aurandt says that she believes there are still some lingering questions that are not answered in that court opinion.
As it stands now, there is only one offense in Pennsylvania’s crimes code that specifies that there must be an actual minor victim or a law enforcement officer posing as a minor.
“The rest is really up in the air for interpretation on whether we have the elements that we need to prove that crime. ” Blair County District Attorney Peter Weeks broke down what charges can typically be used when dealing with Pred Hunter groups.
“The law is clear that the contact or attempted contact has to be with either a minor, someone under the age of 18, or a law enforcement employee who is posing as a minor; so, a regular citizen, under the current statute, does not apply and we cannot charge the crime of unlawful contact with a minor in Blair County. ” Weeks says that prosecutors need to focus on charges of attempt, but notes that is also challenging to prove.
We have to prove that someone took a substantial step to commit the crime of, for example, corruption of minors. Even though they can't actually ever fulfill that crime to fruition, we have to show that there was a substantial step made. To me, that's the most challenging. That's very ambiguous.
Weeks says that his office has prosecuted well over a dozen cases handed to them by Pred Hunter groups. We've had several charges dismissed by courts that I certainly did not agree with. While there are legitimate safety concerns about a group of citizens going out and conducting investigations, I would challenge anyone to disagree with me that keeping our children safe should be our top priority.
, a case cannot be proven solely through someone’s confession, which can be a problem when prosecuting cases from Pred Hunters.
“That is one part of the predator groups is that they, at the time of confrontation, are often trying to elicit a confession from the actor or an apology that could be used in court. If that is all there is, that is not enough to go forward with the charges,” Callihan explained. She further explained that wiretap laws also prevent anyone other than law enforcement from recording phone conversations with suspects and minors.
“Anything that is recorded, that the Predator Groups bring forward, would not be admissible. And not only that, but it could also really put them in jeopardy of facing wiretap violation charges, which are felonies. ”I think the way forward is training law enforcement, adding more resources for law enforcement, so that they have the time and the tools to do this kind of work on a regular basis.
Because I think that these predator groups just feel that they need to do something because what if no one else is doing that kind of work.
“I don't think it is up in the air if we investigate it like we investigate any other crime. I think what we need is funding to make sure that local district attorney's offices and counties can form their own task forces for these law enforcement officers,” Weeks said.
“The legislature could also make changes too, to make these private investigators better and safer, but those changes would look a lot like certifying them as police officers, putting them through the same kind of training and having the same kind of supervision. So are we just going to turn them into police officers? Why not put that effort into giving more resources to the police,” adds Leiden.
A common consensus among district attorneys we spoke with is that they will do as much as they can to prosecute the cases handed to them, but Pred Hunter groups, like 814 Pred Hunters, need to be willing to work with law enforcement early on.
“We will do whatever we can to hold perpetrators accountable. This is a unique circumstance where we have non-law enforcement individuals wanting to get involved in an investigation and then hand that over. I definitely think there's a way for us to do that safely and for us to do that within the bounds of the law. But that decision still remains a case-by-case basis, and Clearfield County’s district attorney says it should stay that way.
If you get into larger counties where they have larger police departments and maybe the resources to have decoys and maybe they're already doing it, then it's not necessary to have maybe as active of an organization. In maybe smaller counties or counties that don't have those kind of resources, then this is something that we can use to prosecute these individuals.
This is a common discussion among district attorneys across the state, with Callihan stating that the PDAA recently had a meeting regarding the topic of Pred Hunter organizations. While a solution is not yet set in stone, many district attorneys are willing to, and do, work with the groups, so long as they can be involved early on and to ensure that the cases can be prosecuted appropriately.
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