A New York-based group that exposes child-sex predators online busted a local TV News anchor who was allegedly at the scene to meet with what he thought was a 15-year-old boy.
The group, which goes by 607 Predator Hunters, posted a video on YouTube that appears to show Zach Wheeler, an anchor at NBC affiliate WETM-TV, at a store in an attempt to meet with the underaged boy.
Wheeler Claims He Wanted to Warn the Boy to 'Get Off These Apps'
When confronted by the members of the volunteer group, Wheeler initially attempts to deny that he was at the location to meet or have sex with the teenager, instead insisting multiple times he was only there to "talk" to the kid and warn him to get "off of these apps."
But when the group does not accept Wheeler's excuse, he tries to play the victim, claiming he's being targeted because he's "gay." "Why do you guys do this to gay and lesbian people," he asks, with the group insisting they attempt to catch all pedophiles.
"Are you guys here to ruin people's lives," Wheeler asks at one point, before adding that the group was going to "ruin my whole entire life" and he is "going to lose my job and everything."
The group then confronts him with the chat logs of his conversation with the boy, which includes sexually explicit messages. Wheeler then asks the group if they "need money" and also offers to help them get their organization on TV. Watch the full video below:
Wheeler Pulled Off Air In The Wake of the Incident
WETM posted a statement to their Facebook page Sunday acknowledging they were aware of the incident.
"WETM has been made aware of a video posted to YouTube regarding one of our employees," the statement said. "The local group that posted the video claims that the employee engaged in inappropriate behavior. WETM management is looking into the questions raised by the video, and the employee will remain off the air until the situation is resolved. No charges have been filed in connection with the video."
