OCEANCITY, Md. - A Pennsylvania man visited Ocean City this week trying to catch suspected pedophiles in the act, then publicly shame them through social media.
Justin Perry, or as he calls himself Mr. 17540, says he poses as a teenage girl in online chat rooms to lure men he thinks are child predators.
"So I'll post these dating ads, it'll be a picture of a young girl, tell them I'm 15 and once they go 'hey would you like to meet me?' or whatever, that's when I'll go and get them, I Facebook Live it and it's for the whole world to see," Perry said.
For the last year, Perry has made it his mission to expose these men from his home state of Pennsylvania. His vigilante video have sparked a following on social media.
"I look at it like this, if someone was arrested for a sexual crime or whatever, they go to jail and then they get out and it's done and over with. This is on the internet, everybody is going to see it. They're going to know and these are every day people we see all over the place," Perry said.
But Worcester County State's Attorney Kris Heiser says Perry's videos are not helping the cause.
"If you really care about protecting our children's safety online and otherwise, report credible information to the police, allow them to do a proper investigation and then my office can carry the ball forward when it comes to prosecution. As it is, this is not moving the ball forward with keeping children safe," Heiser said.
Heiser says at this point, the vigilantism is not illegal.
Perry says he would provide information to police, but has yet to do so.
It is important to note that Perry has faced challenges from law enforcement in Pennsylvania. Officials there are concerned about his practices, but Perry says those legal past entanglements have not stopped him.
Perry also says he's not done with Ocean City. He says he plans to come back to the resort town this summer for more confrontations.
