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Chilliwack Creep Catchers target convicted for a third time

Don Putt convicted of child luring in 2016, sexual assault in the ’80s, gross indecency in the ’70s
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Don Putt, 67, was convicted of child luring after being busted by the anti-pedophile group Creep Catchers at a Chilliwack McDonald’s in October 2016. (YouTube)

The Chilliwack man targeted by the anti-pedophile vigilante group Creep Catchers last year has been convicted for a third time, this time for an offence in the 1970s in Abbotsford.

Don Putt was found guilty in Abbotsford Provincial Court on May 23 of one count of gross indecency and one count of “indecent assault of a male on a male” (no longer in the criminal code) from July 4, 1973.

While Putt quickly pleaded guilty to other charges he faced, he pleaded not guilty to the Abbotsford charges. The trial wrapped up quicker than planned, and his next court appearance to schedule sentencing is June 7.

The 67-year-old remains in custody though he has completed a six-month sentence on the Creep Catchers child luring charge. That incident was Oct. 7, 2016 when he showed up to the Vedder Crossing McDonald’s to meet who he thought was a 12-year-old boy only to be met by members of the controversial vigilante group who posted the encounter on YouTube.

The publicity stemming from that case went as far as Australia – where he owned property and lived for many years – and led to reports of sexual abuse from the 1980s in Agassiz. Putt, a former District of Kent alderman, pleaded guilty on April 18 to two counts of sexual assault from 1984 and 1986.

One of Putt’s victims was J.W. who was a young boy at the time and a neighbour who occasionally babysat for Putt. J.W. was present at the emotional sentencing hearing, which began May 10, where he read out a five-page victim impact statement.

“He had me manipulated me into believing I was responsible for my own rape, even as it was occurring,” J.W. told the court. “The scars remain to this day.”

The sentencing hearing for that case is scheduled to finish on May 31. Crown counsel is seeking four years in jail, Putt is asking the court for two years.


@PeeJayAitch
paul.henderson@theprogress.com

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