Independent journalism group Predator Poachers exposed a prominent Maryland Democratic lobbyist and LGBTQ activist for allegedly soliciting what he believed was a teenage boy.
Predator Poachers founder Alex Rosen shared a video of himself and his team confronting Matthew Knaapen, the former chair of the Maryland Democratic Party LGBTQ+ Diversity Leadership Council, last week over his sexually violent remarks toward an online account Predator Poachers created to impersonate a fourteen-year-old boy. Editor’s Note: This video makes mention of disturbing sexual remarks toward a minor. Please watch with discretion.
Knaapen is seen in the video admitting to Rosen and his film crew, who waited for him outside of a restaurant he was visiting with a partner, that he sent the messages and enjoyed the exchanges. Rosen said in an interview with The Sentinel that his team found Knaapen posing as a fourteen-year-old on the dating app Tinder last summer, noting that Knaapen “would not let up” for nearly a year with sending extreme sexual comments and explicit images of himself.
The Maryland Democratic Party said in a statement that Knaapen is no longer a volunteer with the organization following the “serious accusations.” His now-deleted profile on their website said he has “lobbied in Annapolis for LGBTQ measures” and desires that the Democratic Party “remains the political home of LGBTQ voters” in order to protect against “Republican bigotry.”
Prosecutors in most states can charge alleged pedophiles for soliciting a minor online as long as that individual thinks he is talking to a minor, yet Rosen said charges can only be brought in Maryland if the individual is soliciting a real minor or a police officer performing his duty.
Predator Poachers had attempted to lure Knaapen into nearby Virginia, where they have had success with catching pedophiles, but Rosen noted that Knaapen can still be charged with a federal crime for sending sexually explicit images of himself to what he believed was a minor.
Rosen recalled to The Sentinel that he launched Predator Poachers five years ago after watching videos of pedophile stings while in college, leading him to create a fake account impersonating a child to lure pedophiles online and to discover that “they are everywhere.” Predator Poachers has since assisted with more than 200 arrests across forty-six states.
In the wake of the Knaapen video garnering millions of views on social media, Rosen expressed frustration that local news outlets were neglecting to report on the incident, even though media in other parts of the country have been willing to report on his work. Rosen tagged more than a dozen Maryland journalists on social media and said that he “would like at least one of you spineless cowards to come forward and tell me why you guys are refusing to cover this story.”
Rosen told The Sentinel that the outlets may be avoiding the story because Knaapen has not been arrested, but he was surprised that they would not at least report on him admitting to the conduct in the video while blurring his face and mentioning the allegations. “I think they’re not covering it because it’s election season and it’s time to buckle down,” Rosen asserted.
