A mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter with a passion for identifying possible child predators has been credited with exposing another suspect in South Florida. This time, Dustin Lampros, founder of 561 Predator Catchers, used a decoy posing online as a 13-year-old boy, according to a court report filed by Delray Beach Police.Lampros seeks to identify suspected sexual predators by engaging them in online conversations with people posing as children.
He and his associates surprise the targets of their stings at public meeting places, film the confrontations, then call police and hand over information.The organization’s social media pages display videos of the encounters like championship belts.Dustin Lampros in a portrait outside a Palm Beach County, Fla., Walmart on Oct.11, 2024.
Lampros poses as a child online and agrees to meet adults and films the interaction for his YouTube channel.(THOMAS CORDY/THE PALM BEACH POST / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)‘SANTA CLAUS’ CUFFED IN UNDERCOVER STING TARGETING CHILD SEX PREDATORS, SHERIFF SAYSIn May, Christian Walden, 21, of Boynton Beach, Florida, allegedly expected to meet up with a 13-year-old named Justin at a Home Depot for a sexual rendezvous, Palm Beach County court records show.Instead, between potted ferns and pallets of pavers, Lampros strode up.
Then the featherweight fighter pounded Walden unrelentingly with questions about his plans. FORMER FLORIDA POLICE OFFICER ARRESTED FOR TRAVELING TO MEET CHILD FOR SEX: AUTHORITIESThe conversation between Walden and Lampros’ decoy began on the dating platform Grindr, court records show. Walden allegedly gave his phone number to what he be believed was a young teen he knew as "Justin," and the chat moved off the platform to texts, records show.A meet-up at Home Depot was arranged, and explicit sex acts were allegedly planned. During their May 26 encounter at the store, Lampros revealed he was working with "an organization that monitors online activity bet...