# Parents of 15-Year-Old Targeted By Online Predator Plan Elaborate Ruse To Catch Him **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 19, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-15-year-old-targeted-by-online-predator-plan-elaborate-ruse-to-catch-him/661370 "2013-06-19T16:22:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-15-year-old-targeted-by-online-predator-plan-elaborate-ruse-to-catch-him/661370/1 "2013-06-19T16:22:26Z")
[Story in my local paper.](http://www.theolympian.com/2013/06/19/2590882/facebook-ruse-halts-kidnap.html) I don’t generally approve of people taking the law into their own hands like this, but I have to hand it to the parents for their cunning. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-15-year-old-targeted-by-online-predator-plan-elaborate-ruse-to-catch-him/661370/2 "2013-06-19T16:27:27Z")
I heard both parent were linguists. I’m sorry. I couldn’t help myself. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-15-year-old-targeted-by-online-predator-plan-elaborate-ruse-to-catch-him/661370/3 "2013-06-19T17:23:13Z")
“the girl’s father and two of his friends were waiting for him in an alley behind the house. They detained Richards until police could arrive.” Am I cynical that I half expected them to be charged with kidnapping instead? ---
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-15-year-old-targeted-by-online-predator-plan-elaborate-ruse-to-catch-him/661370/4 "2013-06-19T17:42:41Z")
Based on the story linked, it will take more to set the daughter on the right course than putting some dude in jail. I mean, the offender may be in jail, but that girl is not “coming back” to those parents. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-15-year-old-targeted-by-online-predator-plan-elaborate-ruse-to-catch-him/661370/5 "2013-06-19T17:58:07Z")
> [@Cinnamon\_Imp](#): > > Am I cynical that I half expected them to be charged with kidnapping instead? I would expect to be arrested were I to do what Dad did. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-15-year-old-targeted-by-online-predator-plan-elaborate-ruse-to-catch-him/661370/6 "2013-06-19T18:10:31Z")
Shame that their trapping him and holding him for the cops didn’t involve beating the shit out of him with a baseball bat. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-15-year-old-targeted-by-online-predator-plan-elaborate-ruse-to-catch-him/661370/7 "2013-06-19T18:33:39Z")
> [@newcomer](#): > > Based on the story linked, it will take more to set the daughter on the right course than putting some dude in jail. > > I mean, the offender may be in jail, but that girl is not “coming back” to those parents. Maybe. Maybe not. We have no idea how much he was manipulating her. In a couple of months, with therapy, who knows? But I promise, the chances of them seeing her and her being safe are vastly improved by jailing him, rather than them eloping. I mean, yes, it may not have 100% fixed every single thing wrong, but it’s still a huge improvement over the alternative. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-15-year-old-targeted-by-online-predator-plan-elaborate-ruse-to-catch-him/661370/8 "2013-06-19T18:50:08Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I would expect to be arrested were I to do what Dad did. Why? Restraining someone who is in the process of committing a crime is something citizens do all the time. Maybe they should have called the cops first, but given that it was not clear that he would show I understand them waiting. The father acted with admirable restraint. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-15-year-old-targeted-by-online-predator-plan-elaborate-ruse-to-catch-him/661370/9 "2013-06-19T19:01:48Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I would expect to be arrested were I to do what Dad did. The offender is being charged with child rape and attempted kidnapping. The two had met in person on a previous occasion. Probably where the child rape charge originates. It seems like sexual contact had already happened. Sounds like the parents and friends detained him with a minimum of force and waited for the police. They probably should have informed the police/FBI ahead of time and let them handle it. But if I were the father of a 15 year old girl who was about to run away with a child rapist I wouldn’t wait either. They seemed to have used great restraint. They did not hit him, shoot him, or any of the other appropriate things. They held him for the police. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-15-year-old-targeted-by-online-predator-plan-elaborate-ruse-to-catch-him/661370/10 "2013-06-19T19:11:42Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I would expect to be arrested were I to do what Dad did. Do you mean detaining young Romeo? I thought at least in some states, you could use non-deadly force to prevent someone from escaping from the scene of a felony, and attempted kidnapping is a felony, I would expect. IANAL, but I am a Dad. I would not be surprised if he had been arrested. As long as there is at least one father like me on the jury, however, he would never be convicted. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-15-year-old-targeted-by-online-predator-plan-elaborate-ruse-to-catch-him/661370/11 "2013-06-19T19:45:11Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Sounds like the parents and friends detained him with a minimum of force and waited for the police. The article doesn’t say anything about how much force they used. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-15-year-old-targeted-by-online-predator-plan-elaborate-ruse-to-catch-him/661370/12 "2013-06-19T19:56:31Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > The article doesn’t say anything about how much force they used. But the “liberal media” would’ve made hay were there any to be made, methinks. For some reason I can’t help imagining Peter, Cleveland & Joe catching Glenn and getting all discombobulated. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-15-year-old-targeted-by-online-predator-plan-elaborate-ruse-to-catch-him/661370/13 "2013-06-20T04:16:33Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > IANAL, but I am a Dad. I would not be surprised if he had been arrested. As long as there is at least one father like me on the jury, however, he would never be convicted. True dat ---
**Author:** ![panaccione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@panaccione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panaccione)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-15-year-old-targeted-by-online-predator-plan-elaborate-ruse-to-catch-him/661370/14 "2013-06-20T07:20:45Z")
> [@newcomer](#): > > Based on the story linked, it will take more to set the daughter on the right course than putting some dude in jail. > > I mean, the offender may be in jail, but that girl is not “coming back” to those parents. Or she’ll look back on how dumb she was as a kid and be forever grateful she had such loving parents. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-15-year-old-targeted-by-online-predator-plan-elaborate-ruse-to-catch-him/661370/15 "2013-06-20T08:08:22Z")
I know several (two I can think of offhand) kids who had this sort of thing stopped as kids. They all have great relationships with their parents today and are doing fine.