ACTON, MASS. (WHDH) - A 79-year-old-man Acton man was arraigned on Monday after police said he tried to meet up with a 14-year-old boy for sex over the weekend.
Acton police in a statement said they have evidence Douglas Cooper showed up at the South Acton Commuter Rail station Saturday afternoon hoping to meet the boy, whom he had met on an online gay hookup site.
Police, though, said there was never a boy involved. Instead, authorities said Cooper was tricked by three so-called predator hunters who posed as a child named Caleb wanting to meet up with an older man.
Cooper was arrested on Saturday night.
Filed after his arrest, an Acton police report said the predator hunters turned over 88 screenshots of conversations with Cooper, including one email which they said read “I have no problem with your age, in fact I correspond long distance (LA area of CA) with two teen lovers your same age.”
“We do have to be protective and secretive with our conversations and any photo sharing,” the email continued, according to the police report.
In court Monday, a prosecutor said the three predator hunters were too late to meet up with Cooper at the train station as he had already gone home.
The prosecutor said the group tracked Cooper down, though, and videotaped their confrontation with him, posting the video on YouTube.
Cooper had a coat covering his face during his court appearance. His lawyer later spoke with reporters outside the courthouse.
“I’ve been practicing law for over 20 years and I haven’t had a case like this,” said public defender David O’Mahony.
Mahony said he is concerned about how this case fell into the hands of police. He is also concerned about whether constitutional protections have been preserved.
“The idea of civilian investigators, non-law enforcement investigators, brings up interesting legal questions,” he said.
Acton police on Sunday said Cooper was facing a charge of Enticement for Sex – Child Under 16.
A judge on Monday set Cooper’s bail at $1,500 cash.
Cooper lives in a public housing project and told his lawyer he would not be able to come up with bail.
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