KY man charged after YouTube video appeared to catch him trying to have sex with teen
A Scott County man allegedly featured in a YouTube video about catching attempted child predators was arrested Wednesday, according to the Georgetown Police Department.
Daniel Messer, 49, reportedly drove to Knoxville, Tenn., to meet up with who he thought was a 14-year-old girl. Instead, Messer was communicating with someone who runs a YouTube channel called “Knoxville Predator Catcher” which is a page “devoted to exposing child predators in the Knoxville, TN area,” according to the page’s description.
Screenshots of Messer and the civilian’s alleged conversations were featured in a video on the YouTube page. The video was posted on April 10 and has over 13,000 views.
In the messages, the person purporting to be a teenage girl tells Messer that they are not 18. The two continue messaging and eventually agree to meet at a Walmart in Tennessee, according to the messages.
The video then appears to show Messer’s SUV blocked in a parking lot as the user of the YouTube account tries to confront him. The video ends with Messer driving over a curb to get out of the parking spot, fleeing from the person recording and speeding off.
In the video description, the page owner says Messer drove three hours for what he thought was a meet-up with the teenager.
Darin Allgood, assistant chief at the Georgetown Police Department, said the evidence was enough to detain Messer on a charge of unlawful transaction with a minor. Allgood said detectives executed a search warrant at Messer’s home and seized a vehicle and electronic devices.
The investigation is ongoing, police said.
