Predator Poachers child sex sting leads to arrest of Port St.Lucie man

Port St. Lucie, Fl-A Port St. Lucie man was arrested Thursday night with the assistance of an online group dedicated to helping law enforcement capture people committing child sex crimes.

The Port St. Lucie Police reported that the organization Predator Poachers had been in contact with the suspect since September when he reportedly messaged the account of a group member posing as a 13-year-old girl named “Lilly.”

Here are the details from the Port St.Lucie Police:

PSL Man Arrested for Traveling to Meet With and Transmitting Harmful Material to a Child 

Last night, PSLPD Officers and Detectives charged 27 year old Rodney Lenard Hickman of Port St. Lucie with one felony count of Obscene Communication – Traveling to Meet After Using a Computer to Lure a Child and one felony count of Cruelty Towards a Child – Transmitting Information Harmful to Minors. Hickman is currently being held at the St. Lucie County Jail.

The investigation began on January 18th, 2024, at about 9:17 pm when PSLPD Officers responded to the 1900 block of SE Hillmoor Dr. for a suspicious incident. Upon arrival, Officers were met by members of the Predator Poachers, their camera crew and Rodney Hickman. The investigation revealed that the Predator Poachers are a group of adults that create social media accounts and pose as minors on various social media platforms. The Predator Poachers use these social media accounts to communicate with others and at times, adults will solicit their social media accounts, that pose as minors, for sex. The group will then set a time and location to meet and show up with their camera crew to confront the adult about meeting up with minors for sex. They will then notify law enforcement.

In this instance, on September 9th, 2023, Hickman initiated a message to an Instagram account that posed as “Lilly,” a 13-year-old minor female, but was ran by an adult with the Predator Poachers. As the months went on, Hickman and “Lilly” began to text back and forth, with Hickman eventually sending a photograph of a sexual organ. The communication included texts back and forth where Hickman said he was 27 years old, and “Lilly” said she was 13 years old. The texting eventually led up to Hickman meeting up with “Lilly” at the above location with the intention of a sexual encounter. Upon Hickman’s arrival, he was confronted by the Predator Poachers group who then notified law enforcement.

Hickman’s phone was seized as evidence and will be forensically reviewed.

Regarding the above incident, Acting Chief Richard Del Toro had this to say, “While the Port St. Lucie Police Department understands the intent of the “Predator Poachers” and similar organizations is to protect children, we do not encourage individuals or groups to conduct these types of operations as they could lead to confrontations and violence that pose a danger to the public and groups performing these types of operations.  Furthermore, there are strict legal protocols regarding investigations such as this, and the successful prosecution of arrests could be hindered by not following proper procedures and legal protocols.”

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