A Miami Township man is facing a 31-count felony indictment after a civilian decoy group convinced him he was arranging to meet an underage boy for sexual activity, then handed the case to local police, who say a search of his phone turned up dozens of images. Zachary Fox is not currently in custody and is scheduled to be arraigned on September 8 in Miami Township.
How the Case Reached Police
According to WHIO TV, the group Predator Poachers contacted the Miami Township Police Department after posing online as an underage boy and convincing Fox he was setting up a meeting for sexual activity. Officers then interviewed Fox, and the outlet reports he allegedly disclosed during that interview that material depicting child sexual abuse was stored on his phone.
Investigators obtained a search warrant to inspect the device, per the same report, and said they found dozens of images on it. Montgomery County's grand jury subsequently returned an indictment charging Fox with 31 counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor, according to the Montgomery County Prosecutor's Office.
Who Is Predator Poachers
Predator Poachers was founded in 2019 by Alex Rosen in Houston and operates nationwide, building fake decoy accounts posing as minors to draw out and confront suspected predators online, according to KHOU 11. The group records its confrontations for distribution online. Hoodline has previously covered several cases tied to the group, including a Uniontown confrontation turned over to police and an arrest stemming from an online decoy setup in Magna, Utah.
Ohio has seen this pattern before. In November 2023, Vinton County sheriff's deputies responded after Predator Poachers confronted a suspect and obtained recorded statements about child sexual abuse material, according to the Scioto Post. In similar cases, officers have seized electronic devices and submitted them for digital forensic analysis.
Law Enforcement's Uneasy Relationship With Civilian Stings
Police departments and prosecutors in multiple states have warned that uncoordinated civilian predator-hunting stings can complicate investigations, endanger public safety, and jeopardize prosecutions if evidence doesn't meet constitutional admissibility standards, per WTHR. Law enforcement agencies stress that evidence gathered by civilians must follow formal legal procedures to hold up in court. It remains an open question how defense counsel might approach the admissibility of statements or evidence that originated from a civilian decoy operation in Fox's case.
The Miami Township Police Department, which conducted the interview and executed the search warrant, is the largest township police department in Montgomery County and holds national accreditation through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. It is not yet clear from available reporting whether Fox's 31 counts stem primarily from possession or from creation and distribution of the material.
What Fox Could Face Under Ohio Law
Under Ohio Revised Code Section 2907.321, pandering obscenity involving a minor ranges from a fourth-degree felony for possession up to a second-degree felony for creating, reproducing, or distributing obscene material depicting minors, with second-degree convictions carrying two to eight years in prison per count, according to the Botnick Law Firm. Fines can also scale with the felony degree, reaching up to $5,000 per count for fourth-degree felonies and up to $15,000 per count for second-degree felonies, per the Dayton Law Firm.
A conviction would also carry consequences well beyond prison time. Under Ohio law, a conviction for pandering obscenity involving a minor automatically classifies the offender as a Tier II sex offender, requiring registration with local sheriff's offices twice a year for 25 consecutive years, according to the Botnick Law Firm.
The Montgomery County Prosecutor's Office, which oversees grand jury indictments and felony prosecutions in the county, handles cases like this through its Child Abuse Bureau alongside a Victim/Witness Division that has supported crime victims through Common Pleas Court proceedings since 1974, according to the Joslyn Law Firm. Montgomery County grand juries have handed down large multi-count child obscenity indictments before, including a 90-count indictment in April 2024, per WHIO TV, with prosecutors often presenting a separate felony count for each distinct image or video recovered during a digital device inspection.
What Happens Next
Fox's arraignment on September 8 in Miami Township will be the first formal court proceeding in his case, where he will be informed of the charges, enter a plea, and have bond and release conditions set by a judge. He remains free and not in custody ahead of that hearing, according to WHIO TV's report.
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