Efforts by Predator Catchers Muncie vigilante group lead to another arrest
WINCHESTER, Ind. — An Ohio man lured to Randolph County by a local social media group has been accused of planning to have sex with an 11-year-old girl.
Zachary D. Foss, 34 — of Holland, Ohio, a suburb of Toledo — was charged this week in Randolph Superior Court with attempted child molesting, a Level 1 felony carrying up to 40 years in prison.
According to Chad Puterbaugh, a detective with the Randolph County Sheriff's Department, Foss believed he was communicating with a child online when he was actually exchanging messages with a member of the online group "PCM: Predator Catchers Muncie."
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Last Friday, Foss made the three-hour trip from his home to Parker City, where he allegedly believed he was to meet with an 11-year-old girl at the local Pizza King restaurant.
Instead, he was confronted there by members of Predator Catchers Muncie.
Authorities were called to the scene and took Foss into custody.
The Ohio man reportedly told Puterbaugh he and the person posing as a child had "discussed having sex together once they hooked up and met."
Foss continued to be held in the Randolph County jail on Wednesday under a $7,000 cash bond.
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In February, a Muncie man, 40-year-old Michael Ray Keller, was arrested by Randolph County authorities after he allegedly tried to arrange sex with a member of Predator Catchers Muncie who was posing as a 14-year-old girl.
Keller is set to stand trial June 13, in Randolph Circuit Court, on a count of child solicitation.
Last May, Joshua David Clark, 37 — at the time a Portland police officer — was arrested in Hendricks County after he allegedly arranged an encounter with a 14-year-old girl.
He had actually been communicating with a member of Predator Catchers Muncie. Members of the group confronted Clark when he arrived at a Hendricks County restaurant.
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Clark is scheduled to stand trial May 25, in Hendricks Superior Court 2, on charges of child solicitation and attempted child seduction.
In Delaware County, Prosecutor Eric Hoffman has expressed concern about the social media group's activities, saying while their intentions are good, those who aren't professional law enforcement officers were "putting themselves in harm's way." by confronting suspects.
In an interview last year, Brooklynn Sorrell, founder of Predator Catchers Muncie, told The Star Press her group to that point had confronted nearly 60 child solicitors in person.
On Wednesday, a group member said the total number of reported predators encountered now exceeded 300.
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Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Muncie vigilante group targeting predators captures alleged solicitor
