Update: Jail records show the man has now been booked into the Jefferson Co. Jail on 2/16 at 11 p.m.
“I was outraged when the video from Lake Mills came to my attention,” – state Rep. Barb Dittrich.
Lake Mills, Wisconsin police are receiving a barrage of criticism after they refused to immediately arrest a postal worker who was captured on video by an anti-child predator non-profit group admitting that he was going to meet up with what he thought was a 13-year-old girl.
The police officer informed the group’s representatives that the attorney general had advised such citizen sting cases are not prosecutable, the video shows.
Lake Mills’ police chief released a lengthy statement explaining why his department did not arrest the man on the spot, after outrage erupted outline, saying officers “must gather evidence, do a thorough review of the evidence collected, and then put together a case that will provide the District Attorney the opportunity to prove the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt but the comment thread filled up with people blistering the department.”
That wasn’t good enough for the group Bikers Against Predators, which streamed the encounter with the Lake Mills man on Facebook video. Be forewarned that the video contains disturbing language.
Interventions by Bikers Against Predators have led to other arrests in Wisconsin, including in Eau Claire and Waukesha. A man in Manitowoc was convicted but got probation. Based in Indiana, BAP is “a 501(C)(3) Non-profit organization taking action against online child predators and exposing them to the community and having them face justice!” according to its Facebook page.
The officer’s comments about the attorney general come in the last few minutes of the lengthy video. The officer told BAP, “Last I knew, we can’t arrest on this. That came from the state attorney.”
“So you’re saying the attorney general has made a statement that these cases are not prosecutable?” BAP asked. The officer responded in the affirmative.
“You’re sure on this?”
“Absolutely,” the officer said. “Last I heard, we’re not allowed to make arrests on this. This kind of has to be a law enforcement thing.” BAP disputed the latter comment.
“He admitted this. He even admitted it in front of you – on camera,” the exasperated BAP representative told the officer, referring to his body-cam video.
“We understand due process; however, our concern is not with due process itself. The Attorney General’s blanket policy stating that these cases will not be prosecuted in Wisconsin conflicts with the fact that multiple cases have been arrested and prosecuted statewide,” Bikers Against Predators wrote on the Police Department’s comment thread later. “What distinguishes this county? Therefore, we believe improved training on handling these cases, particularly during live streams, to ensure accurate statements, would be more effective.”
Wisconsin’s attorney general is Josh Kaul, a Democrat. Wisconsin Right Now reached out to Kaul’s office and to the Lake Mills police chief to see if they dispute the officer’s comment, and to inquire of the chief whether an arrest has been made yet. They did not respond.
However, in 2021, Kaul warned citizen groups AGAINST conducting stings like BAP has done. “Attorney General Josh Kaul is urging citizens to stop engaging in and supporting vigilante activities. Law enforcement officers have seen an uptick in citizens attempting to lure suspected online predators with sting operations that they film and post online,” a statement from Kaul’s office reads.
Kaul’s office issued a similar warning in 2019. “Law enforcement officers, in coordination with prosecutors, are best able to safely apprehend suspects and to ensure that someone who has committed a crime is successfully prosecuted,” Kaul said then.
A similar controversy recently erupted in North Carolina when police there did not immediately arrest a man in a BAP sting.
‘I Know She’s 13’
“I know she’s 13,” the man, who said he was a mail carrier, admits in the video.
He also admitted that he was communicating with the girl (who was really a BAP representative posing as a 13-year-old girl named Jasmine).
The Lake Mills man said the girl wanted to come to his house. “I didn’t invite her. She wanted to take an Uber here. I said if you want to, go right ahead,” the man told BAP in the video. BAP told the man they have communications showing he allegedly invited the girl to spend time in his bed.
The man initially said he wouldn’t have sex with the girl, but when BAP read to him graphically sexual communications they claim he wrote, he responded, “I mean, I’m not going to say no.”
He said girls under 18 send him “naked pictures” unsolicited.
BAP wrote on Feb. 16 that they conducted another sting after the Lake Mills’ effort. That one resulted in the arrest of a different man in a nearby jurisdiction. “Arrest record for last night’s catch. We thank the Sun Prairie Police Department for excellent response time and police work to hold James accountable. Neighboring Departments take notes,” they wrote.
Citizens who watched the Lake Mills video were outraged that the man there wasn’t similarly arrested on the spot. “The community appreciates the department’s commitment to thorough investigations, but swift action is necessary in cases involving potential child predators. We encourage a collaborative and efficient approach to bring justice and ensure the safety of vulnerable individuals,” a woman wrote on the police thread.
“Having served the people of Lake Mills for the previous six years of my time in the Legislature under the previous maps, and having served as a member of the Speaker’s Task Force on Human Trafficking, I care deeply about the people of this area, and about this issue,” said state Rep. Barb Dittrich, a Republican, in a statement to Wisconsin Right Now.
“I was outraged when the video from Lake Mills came to my attention. We know that human trafficking and child predators are in our midst. However, I would hope we could do much better when such a thing is brought to the attention of local authorities. I remain committed to confronting this crisis in Wisconsin and will continue to fight for the victims of this kind of depravity.”
Lake Mills Police Respond
The Lake Mills chief explained the department’s response in the statement.
“On 02/15/25, the Lake Mills PD responded to a call from a private group that has endeavored to identify possible child sexual predators,” the police wrote. “The call today involved an adult male individual who communicated with this group, thinking they were an underage girl. The group’s interaction with the individual in Lake Mills today, and the subsequent response by Lake Mills PD, was live-streamed on Facebook. There have been a lot of responses to the video and questions about why the individual was not arrested on the spot. We work to answer that question here.”
“First, I will say that the Lake Mills PD takes any allegation involving the attempted sexual exploitation of a minor seriously. We will do our due diligence to investigate this incident. Arrests for these types of violations are generally the result of investigations that are very extensive and take many work hours to gather the evidence needed to support criminal charges. Making an arrest before law enforcement officers have had the opportunity to gather the evidence to support criminal charges would be irresponsible,” police wrote.
“A private citizen or group may provide law enforcement with evidence of their interactions with a suspected child predator. However, once the evidence is received by law enforcement it can take hours to sift through it and put together a case that will hold up to the scrutiny of a court of law. We have asked the group involved today to provide the evidence they have collected, related to their interactions with the individual involved today. We will also use the resources and means available to us to collect any other available evidence,” they added.
“I can understand how someone may ask why the officers didn’t just arrest based on the word of the group who had been communicating with the individual. The group that confronted the individual today had the benefit of knowing all of the information regarding their interactions with him. The responding police officers do not have that luxury during their initial response. They must gather evidence, do a thorough review of the evidence collected, and then put together a case that will provide the District Attorney the opportunity to prove the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt,” the chief’s statement reads.
“Being that this is an active investigation, we will not answer questions about the specifics of the investigation at this time. If you have any information about this incident, please contact the Lake Mills PD by phone at 920-648-2354, or email Chief Steve Schroeder at [email protected].”
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