WALLACE — A Spokane man was arrested Saturday on charges of attempting to solicit a child for sexual activity. He was apprehended after being caught by an online group. 

Howard Penney, 55, was charged Monday with three felonies: child sexual abuse, enticing a child through the internet or other communication device and possession of sexually exploitative material involving a child. 

According to police records, Shoshone County Sheriff’s Deputy Eric Green received an initial call about a possible child sexual predator. The dispatcher told him the reporting party was from a group called Predator Poachers. 

Predator Poachers is a civilian group that poses as minors online to identify and confront adults seeking sexual contact with children, often recording and posting the encounters. 

In his report, Green said he contacted Jody Cook, a member of Predator Poachers, who told him Penney had come to Wallace to meet up with a 13-year-old boy. The group recorded the interaction using a child referred to in the report as a “live decoy,” and Penney immediately began interacting with the child upon arrival. 

After the child used a previously discussed code word, Cook and Predator Poachers founder Alex Rosen confronted Penney. Penney allegedly admitted to having child pornography on his cellphone and said he had previously sent hundreds of files of child pornography from his home computer. 

After reviewing the recording, Green took Penney into custody. According to the report, Penney was cooperative during the initial investigation, including showing Green the locations of files on his phone and providing the device’s security code. 

When asked why he was in Wallace, Penney told Green he believed he was meeting a 13-year-old boy from Nevada who was on vacation. Penney reportedly said he hoped to convince the child to send him pornographic photos in the future. 

In the probable cause affidavit, Penney allegedly acknowledged he knew what he was doing was wrong and reportedly said there was “too much child porn” on his computer at home and “I think this is the last time I’m going to see the light of day.” 

Shoshone County Sheriff Shawn Wehr said he was pleased to see another child predator taken off the streets, even if it comes at a cost to the county. 

“Now we have this guy in custody for long term when he’s a Washington resident, but that’s a price we’ll happily pay to get a predator off the street,” Wehr said. 

Predator Poachers has a YouTube following of more than 36,000 subscribers but has drawn criticism over its tactics and their potential impact on investigations and prosecutions. 

Wehr acknowledged the risks associated with vigilante-style tactics but said community safety remains important. 

“We would never recommend anyone to do this, but once the crime has been committed, we’re going to follow through on pursuing it,” Wehr said. “Two things can be correct.” 

If convicted, Penney faces a potential maximum of 25 years in prison for child sexual abuse, 15 years for enticing a child through the internet or other communication device, and up to 10 years for possession of sexually exploitative material involving a child.