Jake Hockey, a social media personality from Traverse City, Michigan, has built an audience of more than 250,000 followers on Facebook and Instagram by confronting individuals who appear to be arranging meetings with minors for sexual purposes.
He and his partner, C.J., pose as underage participants in online forums, but they never initiate contact, never suggest sexual intent, and disclose the minor’s age within the first ten messages.
How the Stings Are Conducted
When a suspect agrees to meet, the pair hand the conversation over to local police and record the encounter, a process that has led to roughly thirty alleged predators being identified, with about twenty of them facing criminal charges.
One of those caught was a member of the Gaylord City Council, illustrating how the operation has reached officials in nearby communities.
Kyle Attwood, the Grand Traverse County assistant prosecutor, has pursued charges in roughly half of those cases, acknowledging the desire to incarcerate child predators while expressing concern over the safety of the decoys and the evidentiary robustness of the recordings.
Hockey insists that he de‑escalates any confrontation, that his primary goal is to see offenders prosecuted within the legal system, and that he remains open about a past that includes a 2015 felony conviction for leaving the scene of a serious injury crash.
Despite criticism that labels him a vigilante, Hockey maintains that his work is driven by a personal purpose he has not fully disclosed, a motivation that he says fuels his commitment to protect children.