Vigilantes pose as underage girl to catch accused predator, Connecticut cops say

A 36-year-old man was arrested after being accused of trying to meet up with an underage girl in Connecticut, police said.

Roger Pratt was arrested May 15 on charges of possession of child sex abuse material, according to a Facebook post by the Ansonia Police Department. He was arraigned and held on a $75,000 bond.

The arrest stems from a group of residents who use social media to track down “possible child predators,” police said.

The residents posed as an underage girl, and Pratt began talking to them online, officers said.

The group eventually confronted Pratt, police said.

Although the police department called the group’s actions “commendable,” it urges the public to reach out to law enforcement rather than take matters into their own hands, officers said.

Ansonia is about a 10-mile drive northwest from New Haven.