The YouTuber who exposed accused child predator says he will continue stings in exclusive interview – NJ.com

The video camera visibly shook in the nervous hands of Rashawn Bass as he entered an Ocean County burger restaurant on Sunday looking for a bearded man sitting at a table with a chocolate milkshake. Bass said he knew the man as Steve Chase, a Skout app user who had spent the last day arranging a meeting with someone he believed to be a teen girl.

The confrontation at the Toms River restaurant was a first for Bass, the YouTuber behind the Minority vs. Predator channel he started four months ago. Bass continued filming as he followed Steve Chase outside and peppered him with questions about why he was trying to meet a teen for sex.

I was thinking I hope everything goes smoothly and thankfully it did, Bass told NJ Advance Media. I was scared to no end, but had to hold my composure as best as I could."

The YouTube video posted Sunday by Bass, an Ocean County resident who works at a carpet cleaning service in Toms River, quickly circulated on social media. After people recognized the man and shared his real name, Bass went to law enforcement.

By Monday evening, Phillip Stone, a 34-year-old real estate agent from Lacey Township, was facing charges of luring and attempted sexual assault. Attempts to reach Stone by phone and email were unsuccessful. It was not immediately clear if he had retained an attorney.

Bass said authorities appeared appreciative of his effort. But they warned him against doing it again.

This is a dangerous thing for private citizens to do, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer told NJ Advance Media on Tuesday. "Anything couldve gone wrong there. It couldve turned violent. Innocent people couldve been hurt. Were fortunate in this case that it didnt go wrong.

Bass posted the phony profile of a teen girl on the messaging app Skout about a week ago, using photos of a childhood friend. The first messages from Steve started on Saturday.

"Do you like older men, or are you just here to chat? the man said. The conversation, detailed in numerous screen captures on Basss video, quickly turned sexual and led to the in-person meeting less than 24 hours later, Bass said.

The video has now been viewed more than 150,000 times.

Bass said he started the YouTube channel to raise awareness about the dangers of online predators and teach parents to keep open lines of communication with their kids. He hopes his videos - there are 15 in total so far - help victims feel more comfortable reporting incidents to authorities.

It is very difficult to keep a child safe with guys who are expert child groomers, Bass said. "They are the ultimate sociopaths. They know what to say, theyre very charming. You have to teach children early on to not trust everyone they come across. Parents, build a rapport with your child.

While the Ocean County Prosecutors Office filed charges in this case, this type of sting by private citizens could be problematic, Billhimer said.

Text exchanges leading up to the meet-up may not be admissible in court if a defense lawyer successfully argues entrapment." Entrapment means a law enforcement agent induced a person to commit the crime, but professionals are trained to avoid that, Billhimer said.

These are very delicate and intricate investigations, Billhimer said. "People that work in our Special Victims Unit and our High Tech Crime unit... theyre trained to say the right things so that when ultimately the case goes to court, we have a case we can win.

In this case, though, Billhimer said he is confident Stone will be convicted. But the safety concerns remain. During undercover operations, there is back-up law enforcement nearby in case the suspect is armed or turns violent.

It would be better for civilians to turn over text message evidence to the prosecutors office rather than meet with a suspect in person, said Elie Honig, executive director of the Rutgers Institute for Secure Communities.

If (civilians) were to take information, take the names of individuals they had identified, to take transcripts of chats they had had, to take evidence they generated into law enforcement and let law enforcement handle it from there, I think that would be a way better model here, Honig said.

Bass said he turned over his footage to the prosecutors office on Monday. While he is laying low for the time being, Bass says he plans to continue his vigilante work at some point.

With caution, I plan to continue. Itll be a day-by-day decision, he said. Parents need to know about stuff like this.

Avalon Zoppo may be reached at azoppo2@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AvalonZoppo. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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The YouTuber who exposed accused child predator says he will continue stings in exclusive interview - NJ.com