Surrey Creep Catchers president arrested after confrontation with alleged target

Surrey RCMP have confirmed the president of acontroversial vigilante group in the city was arrested for allegedly assaulting a target during a "sting"on Monday evening.

Members of Surrey Creep Catchers confronted a man they claimed was trying to solicit a six-year-old girl for sex, according to an online post.

In a video, the group's vice president appears to pose as thegirl's mother in ordertofacilitatethe meeting.

The clip later shows presidentRyan Laforgeappearing to pinthe manup against a wall, yelling at him.

On Tuesday, Surrey RCMPconfirmed they responded to the scene on King George Blvdat around 6:40 p.m.

Laforge was arrested on suspicion of assault and later released from custody on a promise to appear, according to a statement.

The RCMPsaid members arealso aware of allegations of child luring and have reviewed video showing some of Monday'sincident.

Cpl. Scotty Schumann saida "thorough investigation" is ongoing.

Mounties also confirmed Laforge alerted them to his plansto confront a target Sunday. An officer said the group's president was asked to turn over any evidence to police, rather than meetthe man himself.

Laforge stated the oppositein an online postin which he saidRCMPwas"finewith" his plan.

Officials denounce vigilantism

Creep Catchers has several chapters in different cities across Canada.

Group members claim to expose people they allege to be sexual predators by posing as minors online, then messaging them and arranging to meet in public locations.

The confrontations that follow arefilmed and posted online, along withprevious messages, in an effort to shame the men.

Law enforcement officials across the country have repeatedly denounced vigilantism, saying it "only increases the risk to the public."

"They're not professionals, they don't understand the case law and often it's very hard to obtain the evidence," Insp. Tyler Svendsontold CBC News in September. "With the RCMP, we have a very high success rate in all of our investigations because we have highly trained online covert investigators."

The Surrey Creep Catchers is currently being investigated by B.C.'s privacy watchdog after the office received a complaint.

No details about the complaint of the investigation have been released.

Since February, Laforge has been sued twice for defamation.None of theallegations have been proven in court.

CBC News has reached out to Laforge for comment on Monday's incident.