INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – An east side business says it fired an employee at the center of a vigilante sting operation that’s gone viral on social media.
A YouTube personality who records confrontations with alleged sex predators called the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department on July 22, claiming to have evidence an employee of The Academy Volleyball Club sent inappropriate messages to an underage boy.
Travis Fuller, The Academy’s director of volleyball operations, told News 8 the employee involved in the incident was immediately suspended and removed from the property, and has since been terminated.
“Player safety is The Academy’s highest priority. We maintain a rigorous process to verify the qualifications and backgrounds of every professional who works with our youth athletes,” Fuller said in an email. “We take complaints of inappropriate activity seriously, fully investigate them, and take appropriate steps to remedy the situation.” In this case, our process resulted in the swift termination of the individual in question.”
Though an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department report on the incident lists a possible offense of child solicitation, I-Team 8 is choosing not to identify the employee since he has not been charged with a crime.
A recording of the encounter uploaded to YouTube and TikTok has garnered millions of views.
The video’s host, who goes by “JiDion,” attempts to confront the employee, their manager, and eventually IMPD police officers; presenting what he claims are printed screenshots of conversations between a 14-year old boy and the employee.
The messages included graphic sexual images, according to “JiDion.”
In the video, a responding IMPD officer said that “our prosecutor will not touch this” because “I need probable cause that a crime has been committed.”
Metro Police told News 8 detectives are evaluating the evidence. Police will only present findings to prosecutors after an investigation if charges are recommended.
Without commenting on the particular case, the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office encouraged anyone with information of a crime to bring it to law enforcement.
“Early reporting not only helps ensure the safety of those at risk but also preserves critical evidence so that it meets the legal and ethical standards required to be admissible in court,” prosecutor’s spokesperson Michael Leffler said in an email. “We want law enforcement to investigate potential crimes of abuse — and we want to prosecute them.”
Authorities in Indiana generally discourage the social media trend of online citizen-led stings involving child sex crimes.
Former Marion County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Matt Kubacki said videos like these “really puts a huge roadblock and hindrance in the prosecution of these people.”
Kubacki now works in the Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office but was not speaking to I-Team 8 in an official capacity. He believes vigilante interference risks creating evidentiary issues that will fail legal or ethical standards in court.
“These groups are probably operating from a noble principle,” Kubacki said. “But they are also operating, in what I would think, from a personal standpoint more for views and clicks.”
It’s a sentiment seemingly shared, IMPD told News 8 in an email “Attempting to intervene independently or record content for social media can compromise investigations and potentially endanger those involved.”
Fuller said The Academy hadn’t had any previous complaints about the employee involved in the case, who worked there about two years. Fuller said new hires go through comprehensive background checks and all employees complete yearly SafeSport abuse prevention training as well as “annual recurring checks to ensure ongoing compliance with our standards.”
“While we continually seek ways to strengthen our safeguards, we are proud of our process and deeply value the trust our players and their families place in us every day,” Fuller said.
IMPD encouraged anyone with information on a possible sex crime involving children to submit tips through the Indiana Department of Child Services hotline at 800-800-5556 or the National Center for Exploited and Missing Children Cyber tip line at 800-843-5678 or report.cybertip.org.
