BUCKS COUNTY, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Bensalem police nabbed a suspected child predator on Thursday after he was led on for months by a group of internet vigilantes posing as a 13-year-old girl.
Bensalem police say the call from Houston-based Predator Poachers came in just after 9 p.m. Thursday.
The group told police one of their members had been communicating through Instagram with 42-year-old Eric Rooney for about eight months, posing as a 13-year-old girl, and that they had agreed to meet up to have sex at an apartment complex off Knights Road in Bensalem near the Bensalem Township Country Club.
When he arrived, they confronted him and called the police.
After his arrest, Rooney admitted to detectives that he knew the girl he was messaging was 13 and that he had traveled to have sex with her.
Rooney also admitted to police that he used his cellphone to obtain child sexual abuse materials.
He is charged with attempted involuntary deviant sexual intercourse with a minor, attempted statutory sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor and other related crimes.
Rooney is being held at Bucks County Correctional Facility on $500,000 bail.
Although a positive outcome came from this case, Bensalem police are discouraging others from following in the footsteps of the Predator Poachers in confronting potential child predators.
Instead, they’re urging people to call the police first.
Anyone with further information about Rooney is asked to contact Bensalem detectives at 215-633-3719.