Deaths after disgrace?

FREMONT — Two men featured on a social network that exposes alleged predators subsequently died after videos of them were uploaded to the sites. Authorities believe their deaths might be suicides. One man featured who later died was in his early 50s and lived in Tiffin. The other man was about 60 and lived in Fremont. Both men left behind families. Sandusky County Sheriff Chris Hilton said a third man shown at Dads Against Predators (DAP) social networking sites in a video, in which he allegedly planned to meet up with an underage person for sex, also subsequently died. His death also is being investigated as a suicide, Hilton said. Joshua Mundy and Jay Carnicom developed the Dads Against Predators social media sites. Both men are passionate about protecting children and each said their efforts were inspired by the TV program, "To Catch a Predator," with host Chris Hansen. They decided they could catch pedophiles the same way that happens on the program. Like "To Catch a Predator," they introduce themselves at chat sites as underage boys or girls. When they are contacted they mention their supposed age multiple times so the person they are chatting with is well aware the person has presented as being underage. The "decoys" quickly encounter people who don't care about the age or they prefer targeting children for sex, Mundy and Carnicom both said. When these people are encountered, DAP tries to meet up with them and uses video to expose the person as a potential child predator. DAP maintains a YouTube channel, a website and a Facebook page where the videos are posted. They also post the chat logs the men and the decoys create, similar to the way Hansen uses chat logs when he confronts people. There are over 50 videos posted that show DAP confronting suspected predators. "We've both had incidents in our own families where the predators didn't get justice," Mundy told the Advertiser-Tribune. Mundy and Carnicom both said they want to expose pedophiles so people are aware of who they are and what they are trying to do. They declined to respond to later questions about the reported suicides. Fremont police and the Sandusky County sheriff's office both have asked DAP to stop luring men and videotaping the encounters. Mundy and Carnicom are not police officers and, while they have helped expose that there is a problem in the community, they are hindering investigations more than helping the cause. Hilton said law enforcement agencies across the county are developing a broader plan to combat the problem. "We are working on creating a task force to catch predators in a legal and correct way," Hilton said. "Part of the plan will involve a couple weeks of training classes on chat rooms and how to talk to potential predators." The men who get exposed by DAP cannot be arrested or otherwise brought to justice if they are sexual predators because the way DAP is operating prohibits an effective prosecution, Hilton said. Local police have worked a sting operation with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force that resulted in 11 men being charged with sex crimes. The task force, and the training officers are undergoing will allow the efforts to be stepped up in the weeks ahead, Hilton said.