A leader in the Atlantic County recovery community is one of at least four local men arrested this weekend after a several groups that hunt child predators online converged in the area.
“So that’s four,” Tommy of Colorado Ped Patrol tells his viewers during a live YouTube cast Sunday, outside an Atlantic City motel.
“Stop meeting little kids off the internet,” one man is heard yelling as the suspect is led to a patrol car.
Nearby also capturing the arrest was Musa Harris, of LC Predator Catcher.
Based in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, he told BreakingAC that he’s been doing this work since March 2020, and has caught 141 predators. But few ended in arrests, he said, citing that they were in Pennsylvania.
He said he usually works alone, but wound up collaborating with the Colorado group and a third, Creeps Spotlight, when their work led them all to Atlantic County.
The arrest at the Atlantic City motel was quick, with police heard asking the nonprofits to follow them to the station..
It was the second arrest in Atlantic City, where records show the head of Recovery Force Atlantic County was caught.
Robert Catalano, 58, is now in the Atlantic County Justice Facility on a charge of lure/entice a child by various means, jail records show.
He is scheduled to have a detention hearing later this week.
Harris lauded New Jersey for how quickly police investigated and charged the men.
He was also part of an arrest in Brigantine, where a Gloucester County man hit up Harris thinking he was a teenage boy.
“We have three different decoy phones with pictures of your penis on it,” Tommy yells as he bangs on the door of a room at the Legacy Vacation Resort on Ocean Avenue in Brigantine.
Inside was Michael Sharp, 55, of Sewell, who was later arrested by Brigantine police.
He is also in the Atlantic County Justice Facility on a second-degree charge of attempting to lure a child via electronic means with the purpose to commit a criminal offense against the child.
Sharp at first opened the door, inviting in the person who said they were Nate.
But he quickly slammed it shut after seeing an adult male with a camera.
Tommy, whose last name is not mentioned, later tells police that the man inside hit up the three groups’ decoy accounts — one posing as a 14-year-old with two others pretending to be 15 — at the same time, asking the boys to come to his room.
Pleasantville’s Robert Heinz thought he was meeting with a 14-year-old boy Thursday, according to police.
But instead, it was part of the nonprofits’ work.
Texts and video recordings were turned over to police, and investigated by Detective Helima Leach.
Heinze, 62, was later arrested and charged with child luring, Lt. Stacey Schlachter said.
He is also in jail awaiting a detention hearing.
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Michael Sharp was captured briefly in video before slamming the hotel door. -
Robert Catalano -
Robert Heinz
NOTE: The Atlantic County Justice Facility no longer provides mugshots to the media, citing the Atlantic County prosecutor’s order. The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office says it’s part of the Attorney General’s Guidelines. There is no such guideline, according to the Attorney General’s Office, but they have recommended that these offices not release any photos that appear to be mugshots.
This story is developing. Check back for updates.
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Child predator hunters help arrest four in Atlantic County - breakingac.com
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