A Michigan vigilante who amassed thousands of social media followers with his unauthorized hunts for pedophiles was shot and killed in a confrontation with two teenagers, police said.
Robert Wayne Lee, 40, of Pontiac, was better known as Boopac Shakur online, where he would often pose as a 15-year-old girl to expose alleged predators.
Authorities say that Lee accused one of the teens at a local restaurant of being a pedophile and punched him—leading one of the boys to pull out a knife and the other to fire a gun. The suspects fled but were later arrested.
The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office noted Lee’s unsanctioned activities—and their uneven results—in a news release about his slaying.
“His one-man crusade has led to the arrest and criminal charges being filed against several men,” it said. “He has also mistakenly identified someone as a sexual predator who was not.”
Videos that Lee posted to Facebook showed him confronting the men he corresponded with while posing as a minor in the style of the show To Catch a Predator.
A GoFundMe to benefit his daughter said Lee “dedicated his life to protecting the innocence of our children from those with malicious intentions. Through his courageous efforts, he successfully exposed 132 predators who sought to harm our community’s youth.”
However, in January, police confirmed just four arrests based on Lee’s videos, according to the Oakland Press. Police had asked Lee to stop his sting operations, but he persisted and even announced classes for others who wanted to follow suit.
Lee denied he was a vigilante. “I’m a concerned citizen,” he told the Press. “A vigilante is doing police work without a badge.”
“I’m just putting the fishing pole in the water and seeing who’s biting,” he added.
Don’t most states have Romeo and Juliet laws that specifically say a 19 year old wanting to date a 15 year old is acceptable? Maybe it’s only a 3 year gap or something. IANAL.
AFAIK if the relationship started BEFORE one of them turned 17? or 18? then they are protected. So a 16 y/o dating a 14 y/o would be protected if they are still together when they are 18 and 16. Something like that.
Before anyone asks there was a scene in the Mark Wahlberg transformer movie where a kid had the law lamentated in a card in his wallet so he could pull it out and explain to Mark that he is legally allowed to fuck his underage daughter… so I had to look up wtf that was about.
It has to be said, this is stupid. 18 isn’t a the magic cutoff where you take the shrink-wrap off your underwear. It’s when you get thrown to the wolves. 17 is the oldest you can be, and still claim ignorance warranting protection. Beyond that date, the assumption is, you should know better.
Which doesn’t mean we have to be any kinder to middle-age creeps seeking out 17-year-olds. But there’s really not much difference versus middle-age creeps seeking out 18-year-olds. And the best we’ve done, legally, is acknowledge that high-school couples don’t suddenly become rapist and victim when one of them has a birthday.
There was a brief window on TV where you could flip away from To Catch A Predator and see Girls Gone Wild ads on a dozen different channels. Exploiting some drunk teens was a niche industry worth millions, and exploiting imaginary teens might get your life ruined on national television.
The intentions are good. The reality is kinda fucked.