Student Vigilante Group Uses Fake Social Media Accounts to Rid Cities of Child Predators
Ghost, the anonymous founder of California's Creep Catching Unit, describes posing as minors online to expose child predators, and gets a surprise on-air appearance from Chris Hansen of To Catch a Predator.
About This Episode
This week, Open Mike welcomes its first faceless guest! Meet Ghost, a mysterious vigilante who has launched Creep Catching Unit, an online movement dedicated toward keeping communities safe by exposing and reporting pedophiles. CC Unit operates independently of law enforcement to entrap and confront predators who believe they’re meeting up with children or young teens. They then post videos of the altercations online for the Internet to distribute and publicly shame — a pillory for the digital age. In this must-see episode, Ghost takes us through his vigilante origin story, shares details on CC Unit’s most intense encounters, and swaps war stories with a surprise, celebrity visitor!
* https://www.youtube.com/ccunit * https://www.instagram.com/cc.unit * https://m.facebook.com/ccunitsd/
Show Notes
- Background of CC Unit and their founder, Ghost.
- Welcome to Ghost — or should I say Mr. Ghost — how are you?
- CC Unit is pretty big in California! I’ve looked at your YouTube channel that has tens of thousands of followers, your Facebook page is replete with information… but for my listeners who aren’t familiar with CC Unit, tell them what you’re all about!
- How many people are in CC Unit?
- On these videos, you’re normally the one who confronts these people?
- How long have you been doing this?
- I know you want to remain anonymous, but what can you tell us about your background? Tell your fans a little bit about yourself — that you can tell us.
- What sparked your interest to help your community like this?
- The first day Ghost created a decoy account, he caught a sex offender.
- Is being a detective or police officer still in the cards for you?
- You’re setting up decoy accounts and posing as a younger person, a 13 or 14-year-old… and then what happens? Take us through the process.
- How surprised were you the first time one of these creeps started hitting up what they believed to be a young kid?
- Did you videotape your first encounter when you met the perp?
- How many videos have you posted with different individuals?
- I’ve watched some of these videos… how many people do you gave with you when you make a bust?
- You’re not carrying a weapon when do make these busts, do you?
- What does “CC” stand for in “CC Unit?
- What does law enforcement think about you?
- I know here in Michigan, police and prosecutors were very upset with Zach Sweers from Anxiety Wars and said they would refuse to prosecute anyone he brought to them. Has anyone in California said anything like that to you?
- How many arrests and convictions have you helped facilitate?
- One person was convicted, and he was in the military? Tell me about that case, what did he try to do?
- Did you participate in that trial in any way? That case was based on evidence you brought to them?
- When you put the videos and offenders’ information on the internet, what’s the reaction?
- Let’s go to your Facebook page for a second… when scrolling through these, you do explain what all these people did to land on your page… there are hundreds of these! You have people of all different backgrounds in these cases and other people in the chat logs providing you their employment and other miscellaneous information… is there a movement behind these videos you’re posting?
- You mentioned you used to watch To Catch a Predator with Chris Hansen… tell us about your experience with that show, what it meant to you, and how it shaped what you’re doing now.
- What did you think of Chris Hansen?
- Would you say he was one of your heroes growing up?
- Have you ever talked to him or met him?
- Well, Ghost, I have a special surprise for you today. I’d like you to meet Chris Hansen!
- Thanks for jumping on today, Chris, I know you’re busy! Ghost here is trying to follow in your footsteps in California and is exposing a lot of pretty scummy people. I thought you guys should meet!
- Ghost, if you had one question for Chris what would it be?
- Would you ever collaborate with CC Unit?
- Thank you for appearing on the show, Chris!
- Let’s go back to you — have you had TV producers and directors call you for any potential collaborations?
- What are plans for CC Unit moving forward? Are you going national or expanding to bring on more cases?
- You’re active on YouTube and there are lots of commercials on your stuff! I assume you’re making some revenue from this?
- Is any part of your surprised that there are still these types of people online? You post something from a decoy account and get hundreds of responses… is that still shocking to you?
- Tell us about your craziest bust to date.
- The scariest part to me is that you’re just scratching the surface of this. It feels like there are tens of thousands of people out there still doing this… and that they’re successful. That scares me!
- Keep up the good work… CC Unit and Ghost, anyone who watches your stuff appreciates what you’re doing. Stay safe, be careful, and thank you for appearing on Open Mike!
- There you have it — Ghost from CC Unit with a guest appearance by Chris Hansen. Thanks for watching Open Mike and sharing this episode with anyone who needs it. We have our 100th episode coming up and we have something special planned — you won’t want to miss that! Take care and stay tuned…
FAQs
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How does CC Unit catch online predators?
According to Ghost, decoys, usually other people rather than Ghost himself, pose as minors online, sometimes as young as 8. Once someone contacts a decoy account, they let the person know the age multiple times; if the person keeps talking, CC Unit catches them in person. Ghost, who does the confronting, now brings at least five or six people with security training, and the people caught are exposed online.
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How many people has CC Unit caught, and what happens to them?
Ghost said CC Unit had 182 catches as of February 10, 2021, about six or seven arrests and one conviction: a Marine Corps staff sergeant who went through the military court system, was court-martialed and had to register as a sex offender. Ghost said that when people exposed in the videos are not arrested, about 90% of the time they lose their job.
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What does law enforcement think of CC Unit's work?
Ghost described a bittersweet relationship: law enforcement thinks the work is noble and commends it, but says it is very dangerous and that he should not be doing it, and some have told him to stop. He said police in California haven’t gone as far as saying they won’t take his cases, as Mike Morse said Michigan prosecutors did with a Grand Rapids group, and that he appreciates the officers who cooperate.
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What advice did Chris Hansen give Ghost during his surprise appearance?
Hansen told Ghost to be careful, said it would be good to cooperate with law enforcement or have it act in a parallel fashion where possible, and said people’s constitutional rights have to be protected. He said that if law enforcement asks something of Ghost, he should give it serious consideration, and that if the attention raises awareness, creates a dialogue and keeps kids safer, that’s all good.
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What was Ghost's most disturbing case?
Ghost said the worst case involved a methamphetamine user in Los Angeles who came out seeking five different minors ranging from 4 to 14 years old and admitted wanting to give them crystal meth.
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