CORONADO, Calif. (KGTV) - A Navy master chief in Coronado is under investigation after he was allegedly caught on-camera in a child sex sting.
The video was shot and narrated by a vigilante group called People versus Predators (People v. Preds) which has more than 50,000 subscribers.
In the video, you hear the narrator who's recording the confrontation. "I run an organization. It's called people versus Predators. I catch people like you coming to meet underage children and have sex with them," he states.
ABC 10News is blurring the face and not using the name or voice of the man who's he's confronting since federal agents say that he's not charged at this time.
He appears in a grocery store at the start of the video. Then he and the narrator go outside for a 30-minute confrontation.
"I can turn all the evidence into the police, or we can stop and have a talk. You're here to meet a 14 -year-old boy to have sex with him," the narrator says to the man.
According to a spokesperson with People v. Preds, the chatting began on an online dating site before they then agreed to meet in-person.
"Are you actively military," he asks the man who replies with a "yeah".
He then asks, "Which branch do you work for?" The man declines to tell him. "Oh, you're not going to tell me. I'm going to find out. It didn't take long for me to catch you here today. It literally took no effort at all," he adds.
The man later admits that he did come to the store to meet the person who he thought he was chatting with online. He said that he feels like "garbage" and is embarrassed.
"You weren't thinking, you made a horrible choice," says the video's narrator.
Sources with close military ties have identified the man as a Navy leader.
The Navy confirmed that he is a master chief who works at the SEAL training base for Naval Special Warfare Command. He has more than a dozen medals. He is still on active duty in his same role.
A spokesperson for NCIS wrote in part, "Out of respect for the investigative process, NCIS does not comment on or confirm details relating to ongoing investigations. Due to the ongoing investigation, no charges have been filed at this time."
The video was taken last summer. It's unclear what's happened since then, but People v. Preds told ABC 10News that San Diego Sheriff's deputies took a report just after the confrontation. People v. Preds also said that the Navy contacted the group as part of an investigation that may have been opened because of the video exposure.
ABC 10News reached out to the Sheriff's Department, which confirmed that its deputies responded, investigated, and wrote up a report which was handed off to the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force.
