Dad Sets Up Sting to Catch Alleged Sex Predator He Said Tried Meeting His 15-Year-Old Daughter

An Oklahoma dad took matters into his own hands when he learned an alleged sex predator was targeting his teen daughter, setting up an elaborate sting operation to personally catch the man before he could harm his child.

Jeremy Dewayne Gibson, 33, was allegedly sending inappropriate messages to a 15-year-old girl, including talk of meeting to have sex, which the teen’s father was able to see through a parental control app he set up to monitor her activity, authorities said.

The father filed a police report, but after seeing his little girl and Gibson allegedly made arrangements to meet in “her backyard in a tent,” the unidentified dad told CBS News that he came up with a plan of his own.

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With the help of several other adult relatives, the man apprehended Gibson as he made his way to a tent in the family’s backyard, surveillance footage showed.

After making what he described as a “citizen’s arrest,” the father said: “I told [Gibson] that he stepped into the wrong back yard, and he messed with the wrong little girl.”

Gibson was charged with one count of using technology to engage in sexual communication with a minor.

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He was not harmed in the incident, which saw his hands and feet zip-tied until police arrived to arrest him, officials said.

He has since bonded out of the Oklahoma County Jail.

Gibson allegedly told police he planned to go into the tent to talk to the girl, but authorities said he was found with a condom, KWTV reported.

The girl’s father told CBS News he didn’t believe that, saying: “If I wasn’t as involved as I am, I don’t know when I would have caught this. And that scares me... not just for my children and my family but for other children and other families out there.”

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