RedSN
03-13-2017, 12:46 PM
For those not familiar with it:
Creep Catchers is a Canadian anti-pedophile activism organization founded by Toronto native Dawson Raymond and joined by branches in 23 other cities across Canada as of September 2016. Members execute non-violent sting operations, first posing as young adults in chat rooms and dating sites, then agreeing to meet adults who make sexual advances. They confront the suspected child lurer on-camera with incriminating chat logs and offer a chance to make a public statement (a confession and explanation is encouraged) before posting the video and chat logs to a central website and various social media. Cooperative suspects are typically lectured to in relative privacy, while belligerents are loudly shamed and profanely ridiculed.
The Vancouver branch is being sued for "ruining" a man's life:
A controversial vigilante group claiming to expose pedophiles is being sued for defamation by two separate men - one of whom is now sharing his side of the story with CTV News. Everything has changed for Peter Ferguson and his wife after an encounter with the Surrey Creep Catchers last summer. He answered a personal ad on Craigslist in the strictly platonic section from a poster reporting to be 18, suggesting the pair go to karaoke.
http://bc.ctvnews.ca/it-s-been-a-disaster-man-suing-surrey-creep-catchers-speaks-out-1.3322028
n. the act of making untrue statements about another which damages his/her reputation. If the defamatory statement is printed or broadcast over the media it is libel and, if only oral, it is slander. Public figures, including officeholders and candidates have to show that the defamation was made with malicious intent and was not just fair comment. Damages for slander may be limited to actual (special) damages unless there is malice. Some statements such as an accusation of having committed a crime, having a feared disease, or being unable to perform one's occupation are called libel per se or slander and can more easily lead to large money awards in court and even punitive damage recovery by the person harmed.
“She said, ‘Okay, but the only thing is I'm 15,’ and so I said, Well okay, there's no age limit for karaoke that I'm aware of,’” Ferguson said.
No no no no, hell no. No grown man searches craigslist for a "karaoke partner" and goes out with a 15 y/o. The circumstances in conjunction with the e-mails and texts should be more than enough to prove intent. With the intent proven, the accusations are not untrue, and thus not libel. Will be interesting to see how the court sees it.
“[They] implied I had some sort of sexual agenda, even though I have the whole chat log and there’s nothing sexual at all,” he says, noting the video of the encounter was posted on the Surrey Creep Catchers website.
I gets me fired up that this guy doesn't seem to think what he did had the slightest hint of inappropriateness?
Creep Catchers is a Canadian anti-pedophile activism organization founded by Toronto native Dawson Raymond and joined by branches in 23 other cities across Canada as of September 2016. Members execute non-violent sting operations, first posing as young adults in chat rooms and dating sites, then agreeing to meet adults who make sexual advances. They confront the suspected child lurer on-camera with incriminating chat logs and offer a chance to make a public statement (a confession and explanation is encouraged) before posting the video and chat logs to a central website and various social media. Cooperative suspects are typically lectured to in relative privacy, while belligerents are loudly shamed and profanely ridiculed.
The Vancouver branch is being sued for "ruining" a man's life:
A controversial vigilante group claiming to expose pedophiles is being sued for defamation by two separate men - one of whom is now sharing his side of the story with CTV News. Everything has changed for Peter Ferguson and his wife after an encounter with the Surrey Creep Catchers last summer. He answered a personal ad on Craigslist in the strictly platonic section from a poster reporting to be 18, suggesting the pair go to karaoke.
http://bc.ctvnews.ca/it-s-been-a-disaster-man-suing-surrey-creep-catchers-speaks-out-1.3322028
n. the act of making untrue statements about another which damages his/her reputation. If the defamatory statement is printed or broadcast over the media it is libel and, if only oral, it is slander. Public figures, including officeholders and candidates have to show that the defamation was made with malicious intent and was not just fair comment. Damages for slander may be limited to actual (special) damages unless there is malice. Some statements such as an accusation of having committed a crime, having a feared disease, or being unable to perform one's occupation are called libel per se or slander and can more easily lead to large money awards in court and even punitive damage recovery by the person harmed.
“She said, ‘Okay, but the only thing is I'm 15,’ and so I said, Well okay, there's no age limit for karaoke that I'm aware of,’” Ferguson said.
No no no no, hell no. No grown man searches craigslist for a "karaoke partner" and goes out with a 15 y/o. The circumstances in conjunction with the e-mails and texts should be more than enough to prove intent. With the intent proven, the accusations are not untrue, and thus not libel. Will be interesting to see how the court sees it.
“[They] implied I had some sort of sexual agenda, even though I have the whole chat log and there’s nothing sexual at all,” he says, noting the video of the encounter was posted on the Surrey Creep Catchers website.
I gets me fired up that this guy doesn't seem to think what he did had the slightest hint of inappropriateness?