12-03-2025
‘We don't try people in the media': Attorneys voice concerns with online civilian groups
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A group of citizens are taking justice into their own hands to catch predators.
A Lebanon man is now charged with attempting to entice a minor online after a citizen group tipped off police.
However, the group 'Operation Soap' found itself in a controversy after Lebanon Police put out a statement about what it calls 'vigilante groups.'
This statement sparked controversy online and Ozarks First is continuing to follow the story now that charges have been filed.
Ozarks First asked a prosecutor and a defense attorney how they feel about these online groups.
'Law enforcement agencies can't partner with them,' said Greene County Prosecutor Dan Patterson. 'They can't turn them into agents of the state. That can create problems for a case. And under their task force standards, they can't partner with citizen-led groups for a number of reasons.'
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'My advice to these kind of vigilante groups is leave that sort of thing up to the police and let them do their investigation, then it would be much more likely to be upheld in court,' said criminal defense attorney Adam Woody.
Both the Springfield Police Department and Greene County Sheriff's Office are members of the Cyber Crimes task force in Southwest Missouri.
'They cannot, under the standards of those organizations, work with a citizen group conducting its own investigation outside of law enforcement,' Patterson said. 'It's prohibited by their standards.'
Patterson says the best approach to these cases is to support local law enforcement.
'So that we both protect convictions, due process, and the integrity of the criminal justice system,' Patterson said.
Under Missouri law, there's a statute that says the 'bait' must be an actual minor or a police officer.
'When the statute was originally written, it had some language about it not being an offense that a police officer was posing as an underage person,' Patterson said. 'As the law evolved, the Supreme Court basically said this is a poorly written statute and they kind of unwrote that part of the statute.'
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'If the state were to try to pursue actual enticement of a child charges with a vigilante group as the victim, that's not something that would that would pass muster,' Woody said. 'That would be dismissed relatively quickly because it's contrary to the statute.'
While that's still part of the statute, it has changed to include an attempt at the crime.
'If the person believes they're communicating with an underage person and they take a substantial step to committing whatever crime it is, then it could be prosecuted,' Patterson said. 'Again, the key is the integrity of the investigation.'
Woody explained the circumstances further.
'Even if the other person is not an actual minor or a police officer masquerading as a minor, prosecutors can still proceed under an attempt provision for the person making an attempt to commit the offense,' Woody said.
It was through this statute that 29-year-old Michael Rupe of Lebanon was arrested and now charged.
Court records show a local civilian group was able to provide evidence to Lebanon Police of Rupe messaging who he believed to be a 14-year-old girl.
'I'd encourage any citizen, if you believe there's a child who's being enticed or aware of an offender who's using the internet in that manner to make a tip to the Springfield Police Department, the sheriff's office or the task force on Internet Crimes Against Children,' Patterson said.
Patterson says none of these civilian-led cases have come across his desk.
'I know that some reports have been made to the Springfield Police Department,' Patterson said. 'We've not received any of those for investigation.'
Citizens can file a report with the MoICAC task force online.
'We have to provide due process to the defendant and convict them in a courtroom, not in a Facebook video,' Patterson said.
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