BC Parents Say Creep Catchers Just Busted An Elementary School Principal

A Mission, BC dad said he was shocked and disgusted when he recognized the man featured in a Creep Catchers video as the principal of his children's elementary school.

In the video, recorded October 14, a man who identified himself as a 33-year-old biologist named James was confronted by Fraser Valley Creep Catchers at an Abbotsford shopping mall. The vigilante group, which has multiple chapters across the country that shame suspected predators online, said he was trying to meet two teenage girls to have sex with them.

But the dad, who wants to remain anonymous to protect his children's identity, told VICE as soon as he saw the footage he said, "Fuck, that looks like the kids' elementary school principal."

He said he took a screenshot and showed it to one of his kids, who "identified without hesitation."

"We are heartbroken," he said.

Read More: Edmonton Woman Kills Herself After Being Confronted by Creep Catchers

The clip shows Creep Catchers following "James" and demanding to know why he wanted to meet the two teens. "You want to be my daddy? You want to be my sugar daddy," a female Creep Catcher asks, apparently referring to chat logs the group had with the man. He maintains that he "didn't do anything but talk."

After Creep Catchers posted the video online, parents began commenting that he was a school principal and using his real name.

"It's him clearly," said one, while another said she was planning to make an RCMP report on behalf of her child.

Abbotsford police told VICE there is an open investigation, though they would not confirm the man's identity. Angus Wilson, superintendent of the Mission Public Schools told reporters the "individual allegedly identified in the video is not currently working in our schools."

Marie Bullon, president of Fraser Valley Creep Catchers, said interactions with the police have so far been "really good." She noted that the group warned its Facebook followers not to publicly give out the man's personal details until his identity was 100 percent confirmed.

Surrey Creep Catchers recently faced backlash for two instances where men were wrongly identified as creeps.

The father who spoke to VICE said some parents are now threatening to pull their kids out of the school allegedly run by the man in the video. He said both his kids "trusted and loved him."

He also said he supports the Creep Catcher movement because "police do absolutely no prevention on the cyber pedophile front."

Abbotsford police spokesman Ian MacDonald told VICE members of the public should report suspected criminal activity to the cops.

"We completely understand the desire to hold people accountable for their actions," said MacDonald, "but we don't feel that public shaming is the best or only way to do that."

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