State police say a planned meetup at Areford Community Park in South Union Township turned into a takedown after a 64-year-old Westmoreland County man showed up believing he was there to meet a 13-year-old he had met online.
Investigators say Vance Stabley drove about 25 miles to the Fayette County park, where troopers were waiting for him. An online decoy group had already alerted authorities, and prosecutors say evidence recovered during the response points to planned sexual activity inside his vehicle. Stabley was taken into custody at the park, is being held in the Fayette County prison, and faces charges that include statutory sexual assault.
According to CBS Pittsburgh, the online group Predator Poachers Long Island posed as the teen, lured Stabley to the park, and turned over printouts of social media messages and text exchanges to investigators. Fayette County District Attorney Mike Aubele told KDKA that “this individual was clearly targeting who he believed was a 13-year-old girl” and stressed that Stabley chose “a public park where children play.” Troopers in Uniontown responded to the call from the group and arrested Stabley at the scene, officials said.
What investigators say they found
Police paperwork reviewed by CBS Pittsburgh states that Stabley admitted he intended to have sex with the decoy at the park inside his vehicle. Prosecutors say search warrants were executed on multiple electronic devices and at a home, and investigators recovered child sexual abuse material along with an alleged nude photo that had been sent to a suspected minor.
The criminal complaint further alleges Stabley admitted to having a sexual relationship with a 12-year-old and notes a prior 1994 guilty plea for indecent assault in Penn Hills.
Who is Predator Poachers Long Island?
Predator Poachers Long Island is part of a loose network of civilian “decoy” operations that create online personas to catch adults seeking sex with minors and then post the encounters online, according to Greater Long Island. Reporting on Long Island has detailed how the group’s founder and partners have staged dozens of confrontations, recorded the interactions, and, in some cases, handed over screenshots and video to law enforcement.
The group’s vigilante-style tactics have drawn both praise from supporters who say they expose alleged predators and criticism from others who question how evidence is gathered and handled.
Legal implications
Prosecutors have charged Stabley with offenses that include statutory sexual assault and unlawful contact with a minor, crimes defined under Pennsylvania law at 18 Pa.C.S. § 3122.1 and 18 Pa.C.S. § 6318. Both are felony-level offenses that can require sex offender registration if there is a conviction.
Possession or distribution of child sexual abuse material can also bring federal counts under 18 U.S.C. §§ 2251–2252A, the Department of Justice notes, and those charges carry potentially lengthy prison terms. Authorities say the investigation into Stabley remains active and that additional charges could be filed as detectives continue to review the evidence.
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