MMA fighter targets child predators with police officers in tow. Does this cross a line?

Yahoo

06-02-2025

DELRAY BEACH — MMA fighter Dustin Lampros feels the same jolt of anxiety when he enters a Walmart as when he steps into the arena. He's not looking for a fight in the produce department, he said, but for something more dangerous: a child predator.
He scans the aisles of the Delray Beach store and motions for the cameraman behind him to begin recording. When he spots his target — a man or a woman camouflaged among day-to-day shoppers — instinct takes over.
He approaches slowly and speaks calmly. He introduces himself as the face of "561 Predator Catchers," a group of adult YouTubers who pretend to be children online in hopes of luring so-called predators to grocery stores and gas stations with promises of sexual favors.
Once cornered, they're given a choice: Admit your intentions, Lampros says, or he'll call the police. Most confess, unaware that officers are already on their way.
Broadcast soon after to an audience of more than 200,000 followers online, these confrontations do more than humiliate those Lampros deems pedophiles. They've begun to prompt criminal charges, too.
Though authorities across Palm Beach County disavowed Lampros' brand of extrajudicial investigations when he began in 2022, he's managed to court and collaborate with officers of one police department in particular. Their unorthodox relationship has triggered a surge of arrests and lingering questions about the legality of civilian-led stings.
'I think they're playing a very dangerous game,' said Michelle Suskauer, one of dozens of defense attorneys now tasked with litigating a type of case never before seen in Palm Beach County.
When asked about the more than 20 predator-catcher cases filed within five months — interrupting the 18-month period in which prosecutors filed none — law-enforcement authorities gave near-identical statements rejecting ties to 561 Predator Catchers. The firmest was made by the agency responsible for almost every arrest.
'The Delray Beach Police Department is in no way affiliated with these groups," said spokesperson Ted White. "We do not approve, condone, encourage or promote their actions."
In private, their message is less clear.
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Lampros said that after the State Attorney's Office declined to file charges on a number of his earliest catches, Delray Beach detectives advised him on how to conduct catches in a way that was easier to prosecute.
Its officers were also the first to suggest that he film and upload his catches, Lampros said. He added that they routinely tell him the arrests "make us feel like we have a purpose for the first time.'
With Lampros' help, the agency arrested more people suspected of traveling to meet a minor for sex in 2024 than it had in the prior five years combined. Probable cause reports filed in each of those arrests begin with a nod to "561 Predator Catchers.'
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White confirmed that a detective met with Lampros but declined to identify the detective, say when it took place or specify what guidance was given.
"We met with the State Attorney's Office in reference to these types of cases," White said. "We conveyed to Mr. Lampros the SAO's concerns."
Police Chief Russ Major declined multiple requests from The Palm Beach Post to discuss the agency's relationship with 561 Predator Catchers. White maintained that it has none.
Yet Lampros' videos are punctuated with moments where the line distinguishing him from officers doesn't appear as firm as the official statement indicates.
In several, Lampros is allowed to enter the perimeter officers usually enforce while making arrests in public. He and his cameraman stand side by side with officers in a circle around the suspect, taking turns posing questions.
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The officers don't stop Lampros from asking, or the suspect from answering. Instead, they take notes.
"If the police are allowing him to do that, I would certainly argue that he's operating in a way to try to get around an individual's Miranda rights," said defense attorney Gregg Lerman. "The police have an ethical and due-process obligation to not permit that to be happening."
One officer tried to correct this behavior in a video uploaded to Lampros' YouTube channel on Nov. 10. She told him and his cameraman to "stand back a little bit" while the agency investigated.
"I've never had this issue," his cameraman said, to which the officer replied "I know."
"We just changed this in our briefing," she said. "Just give us some space."
Civilians' desire to lend a helping hand is nothing new, said Miami-based attorney Barbara Martinez. A police agency's decision to embrace it is.
Martinez spent two decades prosecuting child exploitation crimes before transitioning to criminal defense in 2020. There's a reason police are forbidden from working with vigilantes, she said: It poses too great a risk to the vigilante, to the suspect, to bystanders and to the integrity of the case itself.
'Now, if people reported things to law enforcement, you have to respond and react to that,' she continued. 'But we certainly were never trying to give them a nod and a wink. We did not think that it was safe or good practice for many reasons to do that.'
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As the South Florida coordinator for the Justice Department's 'Project Safe Childhood,' Martinez trained undercover officers on which cases to pursue, how to engage without being too vulgar or aggressive, how to overcome common legal defenses, how to interrogate a suspect without violating their rights and how to preserve evidence.
Beyond the brief meeting with Delray Beach police, the specifics of which both Lampros and the police agency declined to discuss, Lampros indicated that he hasn't received formal training on what makes cases legally robust.
Whether prosecutors prove the crime beyond a reasonable doubt isn't his priority, Lampros said. In his eyes, they're guilty regardless.
'As soon as they pull up in their car and get out, they're guilty,' he said, contradicting the brief 'innocent until proven guilty' message that appears at the beginning of each of his videos.
Lampros has heard the concern that his actions flirt with entrapment and blur the lines between entertainment and law enforcement. But to him and his followers, the justification outweighs the critique.
If the police had the predator problem under control, Lampros said, he wouldn't be able to catch as many people as he does. Give him a fake profile and a dating app, he said, and he can snare five would-be predators in under an hour.
To that, Martinez said: Important things aren't supposed to be easy. It's why some investigations take months before officers move in for an arrest, checking every box to ensure that no guilty person walks free.
'The criminal justice system begins with investigations, but it ends in the courtroom,' Martinez said. 'It's important for people to know their role, know their lane and and stay in that lane to better serve the case and the community.'
To report an incident of online exploitation, contact the confidential tip line at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) , or use the online reporting form https://southfloridaicac.org/report-a-tip/.
Hannah Phillips covers criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at [e-mail]. Help support our journalism and subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: MMA fighter targets child predators with police in tow. Is this legal?