CHASKA, Minn. — A convicted sex offender is back behind bars after interacting with a citizen group posing as a 13-year-old girl.
“He contacted her on Nov. 20 through a Taylor Swift fan page,” said Max Term, founder of Big Country’s Predator Exposure.
Chaska police say the man targeted in this operation was Michael Kklapbach, who is now charged with soliciting a child online – a crime for which he has been convicted in the past.
Term created the private group more than a year ago with one goal: to catch child predators online after his daughter was groomed while playing an online game called Roblox.
Over the past year, his team has crisscrossed the United States, acting like a minor on various platforms, coordinating with other teams and conducting live-streaming conversations with suspected child predators before turning to law enforcement.
“We are doing what we can to protect our American youth,” Term said.
Term believes that the police are not doing enough – not because they don’t want to – but because of a manpower problem.
According to the complaint, Kklapbach told police he contacted a young-looking woman via Facebook Messenger and admitted to having “sexual” conversations.
In a statement the Chaska Police Department said:
We appreciate community members wanting to play an active role in keeping our community safe. One way that can be effective is when someone, or in this case a citizen group, calls us with information or allegations that a crime has been committed.
We always encourage anyone who encounters suspicious activity to report it directly to police from a safe place and have our officers respond. This allows us to ensure that investigations are conducted within the framework of the law, which protects the rights of all individuals and all evidence that may be used in court.
After responding to this call on Saturday, we began an investigation and reviewed the evidence. Based on what we observed and the determined probable cause, officers made an arrest. Arrest decisions are always made carefully. We can consider things like the nature of the crime, the available evidence, and the individual’s history.
Kklapbach is a Level 3 predatory offender who moved to Chaska after his release from prison in 2019. In accordance with Minnesota state law, we held a notice meeting on October 9, 2019 to share relevant information with community members and stakeholders.
The Chaska Police Department has a Predatory Offender Registration (POR) team charged with keeping track of any predatory offenders living in Chaska.
WCCO has contacted the suspect’s attorney but has not yet heard back. Kklapbach will make his first appearance next Friday.
Ubah Ali
