Police investigating after ‘Bikers Against Predators’ conduct operation on Bernie school property

BERNIE, Mo. (KBSI) – A Dexter man faces charges after police say he arranged to meet what he thought was a 13-year-old girl on school property.

Police in Bernie and Dexter are investigating after received a report from an organization called “Bikers Against Predators” about an operation on school property.

Joseph J. Craig of Dexter faces charges of felony attempted enticement of a child (actor 21 years of age or older and child less than 15 years of age) and felony age misrepresentation with intent to solicit a minor.

On January 12, Craig made contact with a decoy account through an app called Meet Me. Craig sent his telephone number to the decoy account and requested continued communication through text messages. While communicating through text, Craig learned he was texted with what he through was a 13-year-old girl in Bernie, according to the probable cause statement.

He told the presumed girl he had just turned 50 a few months ago and asked if the presumed girl was ok with the age difference. When he was told the age didn’t matter, he arranged to speak with the presumed girl through telephone.

On Saturday, January 13, the organization “Bikers Against Predators” conducted an operation on Bernie R-13 school property where a 50 plus year old Dexter man came down to allegedly meet a 13-year-old girl. When unable to locate the child, police say Craig made contact through voice communications with the presumed child to pick her up and take her back to his home.

Neither the school district nor Bernie police had knowledge that the operation was going to take place, according to Bernie R-13 Superintendent Brad Botsch.

The “Bikers Against Predators” organization called the Bernie Police Department to report property damage to a guide wire that the man ran into with his truck when he abruptly left after they confronted him. They also notified the Bernie police officer on duty about the video regarding the child solicitation.

Botsch says the organization does this randomly across the nation in an effort to expose child predators. Botsch said:

“While we wish the operation had not been conducted on school property without our knowledge, nonetheless, it is a vibrant reminder to closely monitor your child’s technology usage and know their whereabouts at all times. A video is circulating of the incident and is troubling to watch. Just to be clear, no Bernie student was involved and there was no victim. The organization apparently uses a decoy of some kind to expose potential child predators. The Bernie and Dexter P.D. are working closely with the school to investigate the situation. I just wanted the community and parents to be aware that this incident occurred.”

Bernie Police Chief Rick Cook says his department began an active investigation in conjunction with Dexter Police Department and Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney Sawyer Smith after receiving the information Saturday night.

The school was immediately notified.

The investigation is ongoing.

“As referenced by Superintendent Brad Botch, this is a reminder to be diligent in monitoring your children’s social media and whereabouts,” said Chief Cook.