“Guess who’s going to jail tonight?” Russell Goodwin sang to the camera.
The self-proclaimed child predator catcher was in Sapulpa, where he had just confronted a man afflicted with autism during a live stream to Goodwin’s social media followers.
But on Friday, it was Goodwin who was going to jail.
Goodwin founded a group called Oklahoma Predator Prevention that, in their view, helps keep child predators off the streets. But an Oklahoma Watch investigation revealed that Goodwin and his cohorts used highly questionable tactics and pursued the most vulnerable people, using decoy accounts to pose as minors online and entice potential predators to meet in person or reveal their addresses. Goodwin’s group would then confront the person with a camera rolling, often bullying and humiliating the person before alerting police, hoping for an arrest.
“Whenever they’re shackling them up, putting them in the back of the cop car, that’s the best,” Goodwin told Oklahoma Watch.
Although the group had been banished from several major social media platforms, they still claimed an audience of about 169,000 followers. Goodwin claimed he was earning about $1,500 per month from the videos.
Goodwin did not like Oklahoma Watch’s story. He and an associate left multiple inappropriate messages on reporter Haley Parsley’s voicemail and contacted her during one of their livestreamed catches in an attempt to engage her as part of the video.
On Aug. 16, Goodwin, a 42-year-old Oklahoma City resident, and colleagues Ryan Koch, 36, of Moore and George Liebsch, 43, of Enid, were in McLennan County, Texas, where Sheriff’s Investigator Andrew Hermes had just arrested members of a similar group, charging them with unlawful restraint.
Hermes applied the same strategy to Goodwin, Koch and Liebsch, who were arrested separately in Oklahoma Friday morning by members of a U.S. Marshal’s task force on McLennan County, Texas, warrants. They were charged with unlawful restraint and exposing the victim to a substantial risk of serious bodily injury. The charge is a third-degree felony in Texas, which carries a maximum punishment of 10 years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine.
“The video revealed a coordinated effort by the three OPP members to control and restrict the man’s movements, including directing him where to stand, corralling him into a secluded area, all the while using aggressive and profane language,” the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release. “The situation escalated to the point where the man lost consciousness, collapsed and struck his head. It was only at that point that OPP members notified law enforcement.”
Hermes said that while law enforcement is committed to protecting children, the vigilante-style approach of people such as those affiliated with OPP poses its own threat to the community.
“We can’t have these guys out there doing the kinds of things they’re doing,” Hermes said. “There are too many things that can go wrong. If someone suspects that there’s a threat to children, the right thing to do is to contact law enforcement and let us take it from there.”
Ted Streuli is Oklahoma Watch’s executive director.
Contact him at tstreuli@oklahomawatch.org.
Support our publication
Every day we strive to produce journalism that matters — stories that strengthen accountability and transparency, provide value and resonate with readers like you.
This work is essential to a better-informed community and a healthy democracy. But it isn’t possible without your support.
Republish This Story
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
