SOUTH UNION TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A man accused of trying to meet up with a teenage girl in a park found police officers instead.
Investigators tell Channel the sting was partially thanks to a group of online advocates.
It’s a busy neighborhood park in South Union Township, one that hosts birthday parties, family reunions and gym classes from a nearby school.
On Tuesday, Pennsylvania State Police were here for a very different reason.
“We certainly appreciate these groups that come forward and bring this information to us. It’s not every time we can prosecute; it’s not every time we can make a case. This is the second time we have been approached and this is the second time we’ve filed charges,” Fayette County District Attorney Mike Aubele said.
Aubele says the group “Predator Poachers Long Island” set up a meeting between Vance Stabley and what he believed was a 13-year-old girl.
The decoy was actually an adult in another state.
When Stabley showed up to the park, state police were waiting.
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“We conduct interviews; we serve search warrants. In this particular case, we were able to recover numerous pieces of evidence,” Aubele said.
That search of Stabley’s home and vehicle in Ruffsdale turned up child sexual abuse material.
Investigators say his vehicle had been prepared as a bed.
Areford Park monitor Judy Moatz has worked here for ten years and says she noticed something was off.
“The next thing I know, the state police came and was talking to him and everything,” Moatz said. “They handcuffed him and took him in the police car.”
Moatz says the park is filled with children every day of the week.
“I’m glad they caught him,” Moatz said, “Because I have an 11-year-old granddaughter and if something like that would happen to her, I’d be very upset, and so would my son.”
Stabley is charged with attempted unlawful contact with a minor, attempted statutory sexual assault, and possession of child pornography.
He is being held without bail at the Fayette County Jail.
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