The Indiana-based group, Bikers Against Predators, was instrumental in catching a predator in Ottumwa last night. “Boots,” the leader of Bikers Against Predators, said the predator thought he was speaking with a 13-year-old through text messages, including sending graphic photos and texts.
It appeared the guy was moving around between addresses a lot, which made it difficult at first for the group to find his location. Boots said that by chance, two individuals approached them while they were at one of his known addresses and told the group he was staying at a different location. Once they had that narrowed down, they were able to speak with him, and he admitted everything, including planning to try to meet up with the 13-year-old decoy for sex.
After speaking with him, Boots and the group gave local law enforcement all of the evidence, which resulted in police questioning the man, who tried to flee and was tased.
I also asked Boots about how the Bikers Against Predators group got its start. Boots told me that in 2021 he had a family member who was a victim of an online predator. Boots said he remembered feeling like law enforcement had failed them but realized it was because of a lack of resources to hunt down online predators. So he formed Bikers Against Predators. They are a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit group. They have helped with the arrests of over 400 predators in 30 states.
Boots said he and the other members of the group have full-time jobs and do this on their vacation time.
For more information about Bikers Against Predators and to find out how you can help, head to their Facebook page facebook.com/Bikersagainstpredators1 or website bikersagainstpredators.com.
