A Meta engineer who worked on digital experiences for children has been arrested after admitting he believed he was sexting a 13-year-old girl during an undercover operation conducted by Predator Poachers Long Island.
Human Events’ Jack Posobiec spoke with Predator Poachers Long Island founder Mike Villani following the arrest of 44-year-old Josh Felker, who was charged after an undercover sting in New York City. Felker first contacted a decoy account posing as a 13-year-old girl in May and was messaging the account regularly.
During the exchange, Felker allegedly told a member of the group posing as a grandmother of the would-be victim that “Even though inappropriate things had already gone on, I just almost wish I could be her dad.”
According to a report by the New York Post, Felker worked at Meta building “digital experiences for kids.” He has since been put on leave, and his LinkedIn profile has reportedly been deleted.
Last week, members of Predator Poachers Long Island confronted Felker outside his apartment in Murray Hill. Felker initially attempted to flee but ultimately agreed to speak with the group because he did not want his nearby mother-in-law to hear he was cheating on his wife by sexting someone he thought was a teenager. There, Felker admitted that he thought he was messaging a teen. He also said it was not the first time he had groomed a minor.
Police arrived after the conversation and arrested Felker. He has been charged with disseminating indecent material to minors as well as endangering the welfare of a child.
Speaking with Posobiec, Villani explained that he founded Predator Poachers Long Island after becoming frustrated by the lack of transparency surrounding Jeffrey Epstein. He said he later became aware of vigilante groups that expose child predators and partnered with Predator Poachers founder Alex Rosen to establish a Long Island affiliate.
“In this case, he was in a New York City meetup group on 4chan,” Villani explained. “Our decoy… joined the group and he direct messaged her on Discord. He was made aware the age, and he was talking about… a girl he used to speak with from the past in a very similar fashion.”
Villani explained that Felker had sent pornographic images of himself to the decoy he believed was 13 and admitted to having a similar relationship with a minor in the past. Posobiec asked Villani what the case says about individuals like this in positions of influence at major social media companies.
“It’s definitely a big concern,” Villani replied, noting how many young kids are on social media. He said in the past 18 months, his group has caught 135 individuals, meeting nearly all via social media.
Noting Felker’s position working on Meta's digital experience for kids, Villani said, “It is scary to think someone doing that was also communicating with people underage in that kind of way. It’s really disturbing.”
Felker pleaded guilty at his arraignment on Thursday. He is scheduled to return to court on September 9.
