Crown Withdraws Charges Against Controversial Vigilante
The Crown has withdrawn all criminal charges against Jason Nassr, the self-described online vigilante behind Creeper Hunter TV, who was arrested last month during the Forest City Film Festival in London, Ontario.
Prosecutors stated there was no reasonable prospect of conviction for the 45-year-old Nassr, who had been facing two counts of criminal harassment and one count of breaching a court order following his October 27 arrest at Citi Plaza near the Wolf Performance Hall.
Festival Confrontation and Legal Proceedings
Nassr's arrest occurred during a screening of Shamed, a documentary that chronicles his controversial online activities. The timing proved particularly sensitive as several family members of Nassr's former online targets were in attendance at the festival.
Following his arrest, Nassr was denied bail after a hearing earlier this month and remained in custody until Thursday's surprising development. The charges were formally withdrawn during what was scheduled to be a judicial pre-trial at the London courthouse.
Despite this legal victory, Nassr remains bound by strict court orders from the Ontario Court of Appeal as he continues to appeal his 2023 convictions for extortion, criminal harassment, and producing and distributing written child pornography.
Ongoing Legal Restrictions and Past Convictions
Nassr's bail pending appeal order includes specific conditions that prohibit him from being within 200 metres of the family of a 49-year-old London-area man who died by suicide days after a phone confrontation with the vigilante. The man had been profiled on Nassr's website.
The lengthy jury trial in London last year examined Creeper Hunter TV and its 100 online episodes, in which Nassr confronted people he believed were child predators. His methods typically involved contacting targets through adult dating sites while posing as a young adult woman, then shifting conversations to highly sexualized messages as a purported 12- or 13-year-old girl.
Nassr would arrange in-person meetings and show up with a camera to confront his targets. The controversial website attracted thousands of views during its operation.
In the case of the London-area man who later died by suicide, the individual never attended a scheduled meeting. Months after their initial online contact, Nassr confronted him by phone. The man denied ever interacting with Nassr and claimed his phone had been hacked.
The conversation extended for some time, with Nassr informing the man he would be going to police. Days later, an edited episode appeared in the social media account of the man's estranged spouse. She subsequently went to police, who found no grounds to charge him at that time.
The withdrawal of the latest charges marks another chapter in the complex legal saga surrounding Nassr's controversial vigilante activities, though his previous convictions remain under appeal.
