Citizen Child Predator Sting Operation Leads to Two Arrests in Pasco County

HOLIDAY – You never know who is lurking in the dark corners of chatroom apps, perusing the profiles of young children in the hopes that one might become their next victim. It happens every day in every town, and it could be your neighbor, your child's teacher, or even a member of your church. They are the stealthy villains of our society, and the heroes are greatly outnumbered. But there is one group of citizen investigators that is committed to exposing these modern-day monsters and they recently made their way to Pasco County to conduct a sting operation.

Bikers Against Predators is an Indiana based nonprofit comprised of about 10 members who travel the country in search of child predators. The organization's president, "Boots," is the face of the organization and we had a chance to speak with him during a recent operation in Holiday.

Boots says he came to Pasco County last Friday after an alleged child predator offered to meet their Decoy at a residence on Sunray Drive.

According to a Pasco Sheriff's arrest affidavit, 20-year-old Michael Antonio Reyes of Brooksville, Florida utilized a fake Facebook profile to befriend a girl he thought was 13 years old. Reyes initiated contact on September 30th and engaged in sexual discussions for the over five weeks. Reyes even sent graphic photos of his genitals to the decoy.

On November 11th, the decoy advised that she would be alone at her home on Sunray Drive and asked if Reyes wanted to meet her there while her father was gone. Reyes said yes and responded to the residence where he met the decoy. Moments later, Boots walked into the room and confronted Reyes about his actions. You can watch excerpts of that video by clicking HERE

Pasco Sheriff's Deputies arrived on scene and conducted an interview with Reyes, which he consented to. Reyes admitted to knowing the girl was a minor and that he intended to perform sexual activity with the girl.

Reyes was arrested at the scene and charged with Obscene Communication – Travel to Meet After Use Computer to Lure. He is held on a $10,000 bond.

Before that case was closed, Boots says another alleged predator contacted the decoy who lives less than miles away from the bait house.

According to records, 26-year-old Ian Daniel Hallisey of Holiday, Florida reached out to the decoy on Snapchat and offered to visit the girl he thought was 13 years old. That same day, Hallisey traveled to the residence and was confronted by Boots in the living room. Click Here to Watch Video

Sheriff's Deputies arrived on scene and conducted a post-miranda interview with Hallisey who admitted he intended on "messing around" with a 13-year-old girl. Hallisey was arrested and charged with the same offense as Reyes and received the same bond amount.

Boots says his team was contacted with about 10 more alleged predators who were willing to meet their decoy. You can watch our interview with Boots by clicking HERE.

Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco had this to say about child predators, "Protecting our children is one of our most important priorities. We constantly strive to educate both parents and their children on the dangers of social media and the importance of being aware of what your child is doing online. We have no tolerance for those who would victimize anyone in our community, especially our children."