https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/male-student-poses-girl-catch-sexual-predators-nabs-police-officer-n1016696?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma

Ethan, 20, used Snapchat's gender-switch filter to become Esther, 16. A police officer allegedly took the bait.



A California college student used a Snapchat filter to pose as an underage girl online in an effort to catch sexual predators. The alleged predator he caught was a San Mateo police officer.

Ethan, 20, a San Francisco Bay Area college student, used Snapchat's gender-switch filter to become Esther and posed on Tinder as a 19-year-old because Tinder does not allow juveniles to open accounts, according to NBC Bay Area.

Esther was contacted by a male Tinder user.

"I believe he messaged me, 'Are you down to have some fun tonight,'" said Ethan, who did not give his last name for fear of retaliation.

San Mateo Police Officer Robert Davies, 40, began talking with the person he thought was Esther on Tinder on May 11, before the two switched to the Kik messaging app, where Ethan said Esther was 16, which "Davies acknowledged," according to a release from the San Jose Police Department.

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