EAST BRIDGEWATER, Mass. — A young Massachusetts man was arrested Thursday on child pornography charges after a nonprofit that specializes in exposing online predators caught him having inappropriate contact with minors, authorities announced Friday.
Jason Giles, 21, of East Bridgewater, is slated to be arraigned Friday in Brockton District Court on charges including possession of child pornography, disseminating obscene matter to a minor, enticing a child under 16, and posing/exhibiting a child in a sexual act, according to East Bridgewater Police Chief Michael Jenkins.
Officers received a call from a woman in Indiana on Wednesday who identified herself as an employee of an organization called “Bikers Against Predators,” Jenkins said in a news release. Other members of that organization were simultaneously at a house on Central Street in East Bridgewater, speaking to a man whom they alleged to be having inappropriate contact with minors online.
Jenkins said that officers and detectives arrived at the home and spoke to a member of the group, who identified the suspect as Giles.
A preliminary investigation revealed that another third-party group that was proactively engaged in online undercover chats posing as minors to expose child predators had made contact with Giles on Facebook Messenger and that Giles was under the impression that he was speaking with a juvenile girl, according to Jenkins.
Jenkins said that the third-party group then contacted Bikers Against Predators, who uncovered Giles’ identity and found him in East Bridgewater.
Giles was allegedly found to have child pornography videos and had sold videos online. Police seized his phone as evidence.
He was arrested at his house on Thursday without incident and was ordered held on $500,000 bail pending his arraignment.
Bikers Against Predators is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to “expose online predators to help spread awareness and education to as many citizens as possible while having these predators face justice for their crimes,” according to their website.
An investigation is ongoing.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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