Thomas Fellows (activist)
Thomas Fellows is the founder of Colorado Ped Patrol, a vigilante group that carries out sting operations against adults who send sexual messages to minors on the internet.[1][2][3]
Biography[edit]
Fellows had worked at his own window washing company before he started carrying out sting operations in 2021. His confrontations with the suspects are livestreamed on his YouTube channel named Colorado Ped Patrol, and some have led to arrests being made.[4][5] Fellows' operations are have been aided by online grooming survivor Celeste Hilton, who poses as a teenager on social media websites.[6]
Fellows said in November 2021 that he had traveled as far as to Atlanta to confront his suspects. He said that it usually took from 30 minutes to a couple of days since the time that a conversation started for a meeting with the suspects to take place.[5]
In August 2023, Fellows was charged with child abuse, a misdemeanor, under the suspicion of having evicted his two children from his house and telling them not to return. When addressing his arrest on his YouTube channel, Fellows said that "If you guys sneak out, I'm locking that door. I am locking that door, you will not be allowed back in. If I go to jail, I go to jail; you will not come back in".[7]
On December 1, 2023, a man who described himself as being a former supporter of Fellows' online activities filed a lawsuit against Fellows for allegedly falsely accusing him of child exploitation during a livestream. The lawsuit stated that Fellows had used an unrelated phone number to link the plaintiff to a person who had sent sexual messages to a minor, and that the plaintiff had been immediately released from police custody without charges after being confronted by Fellows. When asked by Fox31 about the lawsuit, Fellows said "Good luck with that. Bye, bye, bitch."[7][2]
In 2024, a Weld County judge granted Fellows a permanent protection order after finding that James Thompson, one of Fellows' online critics, had made a death threat in a satirical video published on the internet.[8] In the same year, YouTube banned Fellows' channel, as well as other channels that he had created for purposes of ban evasion. When asked, a spokesperson for YouTube stated that the website does not allow the broadcasting of sex sting operations on the platform. At the time of his deplatforming, Fellows was facing a misdemeanor charge under the suspicion of having punched a former supporter of his during a livestream.[7]
References[edit]
- ^ "Pedophile catcher falsely claimed nonprofit status". FOX31 Denver. 2022-09-29.
- ^ a b "Colorado Ped Patrol founder sued on claims of falsely accusing child exploitation". FOX31 Denver. 2023-12-02.
- ^ Salinas, Rebecca (2021-09-23). "Floresville music tutor arrested after internet vigilantes record him trying to meet minor at San Antonio hotel: affidavit". KSAT. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
- ^ "Civilian 'Ped Patrol' Confronts Online Predators; Police Warn 'It's A Bad Idea' - CBS Colorado". www.cbsnews.com. 2021-06-04.
- ^ a b "Woodland Park man pleads guilty after getting caught on camera attempting to meet 13-year-old girl". KOAA News 5. 2021-11-19. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
- ^ "Colorado Ped Patrol chases internet child predators along the Front Range as an audience watches online". The Denver Post. 2021-08-11.
- ^ a b c "'We won't stop': Colorado Ped Patrol vows more so-called catches after deplatforming". FOX31 Denver. 2024-01-09.
- ^ "'It's extremely problematic': Colorado Ped Patrol draws criticism from law enforcement". FOX31 Denver. 2024-01-09. Retrieved 2024-07-01.