Vigilante 'sex predator' groups linked to another suicide as scrutiny grows of their tactics

Alain Malcolm took his own life in October

Alain Malcolm took his own life in October after going to meet what he thought was a 14-year-old boy in Connecticut. 

The 20-year-old was instead met by one of dozens of highly active vigilante groups that use social media and dating apps to lure people with a decoy profile of an underage person. 

In this instance, the group in question was 'POPSquad' - an acronym for 'Prey on Predators'.

They met Malcolm in nearby Bristol, CT and recorded the sting, uploading it to Facebook, their 126th such incident in two years. 

On their website in the listings of all the suspected paedophiles they have snared, POPSquad skip from 125 to 127, not listing the Alain Malcolm incident. 

When the so-called vigilantes confronted Malcom - a well respected young man locally - he is heard in the sting video saying: 'I have nothing to live for,' while looking down at the ground, according to NBC. 

He is berated by the recorder and then drove 30 minutes back to his parents house where he hanged himself. 

Police in the UK also ordered a crackdown in the practice of these groups last year after a string of suicides after vigilante stings. 

It was reported by The Times that the groups had 'little or no consideration' for the safeguarding requirements of victims of the suspected paedophiles they outed. 

A grab from the POPSquad website, showing a list of people they met after posing as children

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One such example in the UK was when the body of Nigel Sheratt, 47, was found at a house in Cannock, Staffordshire, in August, just two days after he was stopped by members of vigilante group 'Soul Survivors' while in his car.  

POPSquad is described on its website as a 'local movement out of Connecticut that strives to help protect children from online predators both by catching these predators, and also raising community awareness.' 

It was the subject of an episode of Crime Watch Daily, as well as several local news articles where the members work under aliases, such as 'Icognito' AKA Shane Erdmann, the man who started the group.  

In his locality of Litchfield County, Alain Malcolm was named as one of 40 leaders under 40. He also started a business aged 16 as well as being involved in student government and Model United Nations.

 POPSquad is described on its website as a 'local movement out of Connecticut that strives to help protect children from online predators

He was snared using Tinder, a dating app. But it is Facebook where most suspected paedophiles tend to be caught and that is where the video from the day of Alain's death was shared by Erdmann. 

People who saw the video said that the 31-year-old Erdmann followed Alain to his car asking: 'Your family is going to see this. How do you feel?'

Erdmann is currently on probation for an unrelated 2016 felony drug conviction. 

Shane Erdmann AKA Incognito with Chris Hansen during the episode of Crime Watch Daily

On the subject of whether the practice violates Facebook codes a spokesman for the social media giant told NBC: 'We want people to use Facebook and our products to raise awareness about threats to public safety, including those who may pose harm to children. 

'However, we do not want people to use Facebook to facilitate vigilante violence. That's why we have policies against threatening real-world harm and to protect people's privacy if they are being publicly shamed. 

'We will remove content that violates these policies when it is reported.' 

In his locality of Litchfield County, Alain Malcolm was named as one of 40 leaders under 40

POPSquad removed the video in under 24 hours but vowed to continue their work 'without hesitation' while local police in Torrington, Malcolm's home town, said an investigation is ongoing. 

Jeff Allovio, a former FBI special agent with 30 year's experience, said the activity of these vigilante groups can actually hamper criminal investigations against the subjects. 

'They were doing things that can lead to potential entrapment issues, further would cause the case to not move forward and be prosecuted,' Allovio told News4SanAntonio. 

Members of POPSquad with the man in the middle believed to be Incognito AKA Erdmann

POPSquad members , according to the hat, Incognito AKA Jason Erdmann is in the foreground 

'I've had some cases where information is brought forward and people who develop the information, private citizens, didn't want to testify which means we have no witness,' he added.  

The issue of 'Livestreaming' the catches on Facebook has also arisen, with concerns over the public taking justice into their own hands.

Raz Hunter - a pseudonym - is a UK-based vigilante, she said: 'It's a tricky question. I recognize publicly exposing predators means people could take the law into their own hands. 

'But still, there's a lot of value in it – without exposure, others a target has preyed on may not come forward.' 

Shane Erdmann (left) is currently on probation for an unrelated 2016 felony drug conviction

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