Sex charge stayed after vigilante sting

A criminal charge has been set aside against a former Charlottetown man accused of luring a child for sex.

The charge stemmed from a police investigation followingan online sting set up by a citizens' vigilante group.

• Charlottetown man charged following 'creep catchers' sting

Charlottetown police charged the 31-year-manin August.

Investigators were acting on information from the Cape Breton chapter of a group called Creep Catchers.

It's a group that tries to catch pedophiles by posing online as underage children.

Notified police in Cape Breton

Creep Catchers confronted a man they claimed had driven to Cape Breton from Charlottetown to meet a child to have sex.

The group notified police in Cape Breton who turned the case over to Charlottetown police.

But, in Charlottetown provincial court Monday, the Crown prosecutor asked the judge to stay the charge.

Charlottetown police say when they laid the charge they believed they had enough evidence to go to trial, but the courts sometimes see things differently.

"Police officers are trained to do undercover investigations and trained how to gather the best evidence which would support charges in court," said Det.-Sgt. Walter Vessey. "Private citizens and members of a vigilante group don't have the benefit of that same training so sometimes there can be issues with the admissibility of the evidence that they obtain."

One-year peace bond

In court, the man agreed to sign a one-year peace bond pertaining to sexual offences.

It requires him, among other things, to stay away from children, and from children's parks and playgrounds.

Police say the man has now moved to Ontario.

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