Snapchat Swap Gender Filter Helps Catch Cop Seeking Underage Sex

According to reports, a man in the US used the gender swap filter on Snapchat to take down a police officer that allegedly looked to hook up with underage girls on Tinder. Currently living in the San Francisco Bay Area, 20-year-old Ethan is a college student. He took a shot of himself, use the feature in question to pose as a teen girl, and took the name Esther with the aim of hunting predators. The case was reported by NBC Bay Area on Tuesday.

The accused, Robert Davies, apparently was attracted by 19-year-old Esther, or at least that was what the fake profile said. Next, the two moved to Snapchat and Kik Messenger to talk.

Then, Ethan told the officer that he was 16 only, but Davies didn’t seem to bother, and after somewhat 12 hours of talk, their conversation got much more explicit. Ethan then sent screenshots of the messages to Crime Stoppers, which he took in Airplane Mode since Snapchat gives alerts when it detects a screenshot taken, NBC Bay Area reported.

The San Jose PD revealed that Davies was arrested last week following suspicion of sexual activity-related discussion with a minor over social media. On the other hand, according to a statement from the San Mateo PD, Davies conducted the alleged actions when he was off-duty and in another county, and during the investigation, he’s on paid administrative leave.

said Susan Manheimer, Police Chief at San Mateo PD.

Ethan said to police that he had the urged to hunt down predators because his female friend was molested as a child.