Latest news with #Lampros
Hindustan Times
06-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- Hindustan Times
Home decor, interior design tips: Beat the heat with these beautiful sun-blocking facade ideas
Summers and here and interior decor/design experts insist that sun shading or solar shading design is critical for creating a cooler tropical home. As temperatures rise, keeping your home cool while maintaining curb appeal is key. Terracotta jaalis to living walls: Home interior designer reveal summer's hottest cool-down trend.(Image by Lampros) Modern facade design offers a range of stylish sun-blocking options that blend function with beauty. From reflective panels to vertical gardens, these solutions not only reduce heat gain but also enhance your home's aesthetic. Opt for vertical gardening which can be a great space-saving trick.(Shutterstock) In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Ekta Verma, founder of ETOS Designs, said, 'Reflective panels are an effective way to bounce sunlight away from your home. Materials like aluminum composite or high-gloss ceramic can reflect up to 70 percent of solar radiation.' Shading devices, such as pergolas, adjustable louvers, metal fins, wooden slats are architectural features that break direct sunlight before it hits the walls and windows. Ekta explained, 'They artistically cast beautiful shadows, reduce indoor heat and keep spaces breezy adding style to a space. Jaalis like terracotta jalis, can shade interior spaces from direct sunlight. They can provide vertical perforated shade while allowing for natural ventilation.' Anupama Kundoo's own home, Wall House in Auroville, used handmade mud bricks over polluting factory-made ones. Its terracotta roof was developed with ideas from local potters. The result: a sleek, avant-garde home that is still indisputably Indian. (Javier Callejas) Chic home add-ons to beat the summer heat For a greener touch, Ekta suggested considering vegetation add-ons. She elaborated, 'Living walls insulate and protect against heat and also purify the air. Opt for modular planters with trailing vines or lush ferns to soften harsh facades and create a cool microclimate.' She added, 'As an interior designer, using window curtains and blinds is one of the most common ways to block sunlight from entering your home. When the evening sun begins to stream through the windows casting glare, you can simply draw the curtains or lower the blinds for privacy also adding decor.' Nature meets luxury: Create a serene, earthy home sanctuary with living walls to insulate and protect against heat and also purify the air.(Image by Edward George) Combining these elements — reflective surfaces, smart shading and vertical greenery — can significantly cut cooling costs while elevating your home's design.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Yahoo
These two men have caught child predators online. One did it far from YouTube's spotlight.
DELRAY BEACH — While scouring internet chatrooms for child predators, Miami-Dade police officer David Invernizzi learned a few things quickly. Predators get suspicious if you chat during school hours, he said. They gravitate toward cutesy usernames. There are far more of them than police have nets to snare. But the thing Invernizzi said surprised him most was the zeal with which men and the occasional woman — young and old, single and married, employed and jobless — pursued what they believed was a child. "I worked sexual battery cases before this, so I knew there were some sick people in the world," said Invernizzi, now 52 and retired from the police force. "But I did not know the extent it went to." 'Playground' for pedophiles: FBI's most wanted child-porn offender 'in the entire world' convicted in South Florida In 2008, Invernizzi's two-person unit was one of a handful across the country conducting undercover investigations into internet crimes against children. Led by a woman who anticipated the rise of online child abuse long before her superiors did, it helped lay the groundwork for a kind of investigation that has since been adopted nationwide. The slang has changed and it's easier for predators to mask their identities and IP addresses, Invernizzi said. But the fundamentals remain the same: Pretend to be a child. Catch the eye of a leering adult. Wait for the conversation to turn sexual, then arrange a meeting. The predators arrived expecting a little boy or girl, Invernizzi said. What they found was seven men in tactical vests and camouflage, ready to take them down. Dustin Lampros is one of a growing number of people nationwide who've embraced the formula and morphed it to their own tools, despite concerns that they risk doing more harm than good. Instead of AOL chatrooms and dial-up modems, his team of amateur predator catchers uses dating apps and iPhones to ensnare suspected abusers in South Florida. He confronts them with the camera rolling in public spaces across Delray Beach, where he lives. They may feign confusion, but the terror on their faces betrays that they know exactly what is about to happen. More: MMA fighter targets child predators with police officers in tow. Does this cross a line? Where Invernizzi's takedowns were swift and procedural, Lampros' are tailor-made for an online audience. He uses the minutes before police arrive to goad his catches into calling their spouses and confessing on camera. He makes them do pushups and jumping jacks. Often, he coaxes out confessions with the promise that he won't call the police. They're already on the way. Lampros said he isn't motivated by the fame or money generated by his videos. His mother was the victim of a predator when she was 13, he said, and his childhood best friend was raped by a school administrator. "This stuff just pisses me off," Lampros said. "I saw what it did to my best friend. I heard the stories from my mom. I was like, 'Yo, if I'm in a position to stop this, why not do it?' " Law-enforcement officials nationwide, including Invernizzi, have volunteered a few reasons. The primary among them is safety. Confrontations between undercover officers and suspects are inherently dangerous, said Broward County Sgt. Thomas McInerney. A man in Sunrise killed two FBI agents after they arrived to seize his computers during a child-pornography raid in 2021. The man then killed himself. In 2004, a Fort Lauderdale man killed a Broward sheriff's deputy who was also serving a search warrant in a child-porn raid. Two decades later, Seattle Police shot and killed an armed man who believed he was meeting two girls ages 7 and 11 at a DoubleTree hotel. "We never want to encourage any civilian from contacting these individuals on their own, especially in public places where other civilians can be injured or hurt," McInerney said. 'How can God save you now?' Teen victim confronts sex abuser in court before he goes to prison McInerney, who has served as the commander of the South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force since 2017, said people who want to get involved safely should refrain from taking justice into their own hands. Submit tips to law enforcement instead, he said, and let the professionals do their jobs. "Public shaming is fine," he added, "but unfortunately it doesn't stop these people. That goes away pretty quickly, and they're back at it. We want true justice, which is a successful prosecution." 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 Hannah Phillips covers criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at hphillips@ Help support our journalism and subscribe today. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Decades after AOL chatrooms, predator catcher stings adapt to new tech
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Yahoo
MMA fighter targets child predators with police officers in tow. Does this cross a line?
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. More: Can YouTube group's child-predator busts hold up in court? Attorneys are skeptical they will 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.' From the courts: FBI's most wanted child-porn offender 'in the entire world' convicted in South Florida 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. Lawsuit: Boynton Beach phys-ed teacher accused of raping elementary student; teacher denies claims 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.' From the courts: Dentist who flew to Florida for sex with child pleads guilty, paves way for possible life sentence 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 Hannah Phillips covers criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at hphillips@ 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?
