Image Credit: Jake Hockey / Facebook & Canva.
Article by Paula Gomes, Tennessee Conservative News –
A civilian-led sting has led to a man’s arrest for a child sex crime despite Tennessee state law forbidding such private actions.
Last week, a group known as Pred Task Force confronted 51-year-old Herbert Velotta, Mt. Juliet business owner of Pool Pros LLC, who allegedly was waiting for a 14-year-old boy to be dropped off at his location by Uber so he could sexually assault him.
According to a Facebook post, Pred Task Force alleged that Velotta was waiting with lube in his pocket and requested that the boy make a stop with his Uber to pick up condoms on his way.
Members of Pred Task Force showed up to meet with Velotta who admitted that he planned to assault the boy. The group called local police and the Wilson County Sheriff. Velotta admitted to law enforcement the same information he had given to Pred Task Force and upon a search by the sheriff’s department, was found to have lube in his pocket.
However, Velotta was not arrested at that time.
Under Tennessee state law, enforcement actions against sexual predators are required to be undertaken only by authorized law enforcement agencies which include the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), the Department of Correction, and the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (formerly the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation) and local police. Private individuals or non-law enforcement entities such as Pred Task Force are not legally able to conduct such stings or any kind of investigation.
Despite this, by Friday, Velotta was taken into custody by the Wilson County Sheriff’s Department. He has been charged with criminal attempt to commit aggravated statutory rape and being held on a $100,000 bond.
Pred Task Force believes that the law needs to be changed saying, “The Tennessee state law that states “law enforcement must conduct these stings in entirety” needs to be re written or completely removed. There is no reason to not accept good evidence from citizens, especially with proven track records.”
Conservative Tennessee Senator Mark Pody says that he is “very open to examining the law.”
Regarding the incident with Velotta, Pody, whose district includes Wilson County, stated, “It seemed odd with abundant proof that more consideration isn’t given for the protection of children.”
Pred Task Force credits public outcry for Velotta’s eventual arrest. “The public wants to see all child predators removed from the streets, at all cost. So when this predator was let free to go that night, after damning evidence and an admission of guilt were submitted to police.. The public was rightfully upset. We hoped the public would politely voice their concerns, you guys did and tonight, the Wilson County Sheriff brought charges against Herbert.”
Not all counties are responding in the same fashion to the work being done by the group. On Tuesday night, a man in Nashville was arrested in Davidson County and charged with three different felonies.
In a similar sting, Pred Task Force confronted 61-year-old Andy Lynch, a registered sex offender, at his home in Nashville. He admitted to wanting to sexually assault an underage boy among other things, a confession he also readily made to Metro Police who took him into custody and charged him with violating his registry.
“Every officer and department will tell you almost every department in the country does not have the resources or man power to conduct these stings full time, aside a couple counties per state that actually have a task force in place to moderate and track down online child predators,” said the group. “We’re happy to say unlike other areas around Nashville, Metro Police made it happen and seen that he went to jail today. He was charged for violating his registry. Honestly, who knows if he ever would have been caught again if it wasn’t for our sting today.”
Back in May, a different online group called Predator Poachers confronted a Rockwood man and obtained a confession that he was engaging in sexual conversations with someone he believed to be 13, but no action was taken against 61-year-old Guy Russell Pawley at that time.
While District Attorney General Russell Johnson said that the law requires that the victim be a minor or a law enforcement officer posing as such, he nonetheless asked TBI to investigate.
Upon obtaining a search warrant for Pawley’s phone and finding an image of child sexual assault material, Pawley was charged with sexual exploitation of a minor.
Sources:
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About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
2 Responses
I don’t see a problem with what they did. It’s like what a private investigator might do. It’s good guys versus child predators. The police don’t have the manpower to do it and the Stings that are often done just catch people looking online at child porn and even entrap people. Focusing on guys who are actually trying to have sex with kids is a good deed. I say “Good job. Thank you.”
Yup, 100% agree, the law needs to be changed.