Head of Maryland Democratic Party (MDP) LGBTQ+ Diversity Leadership Council Michael Knaapen was confronted by online pedophile-hunter Alex Rosen after allegedly sexting with a 14-year old.
Rosen, who heads Predator Poachers on Rumble, has gained prominence in recent years after he and his team began conducting Chris Hansen-style sting operations on online child-predators. In their operation, Rosen and other members of the Predator Poachers team pose as minors on social media in an effort to stop sexual predators in their tracks.
Knaapen, who has served as head of MDP's Diversity Leadership Council since last fall, is the latest subject to be confronted in Predator Poachers' latest video, recorded on June 20, in Montgomery County, Maryland and posted to Rosen's X account on Sunday.
In the video, Knaapen admits to fantasizing about having a sexual encounter with the decoy 14-year-old boy.
"I thought it was very thrilling to have a conversation, and I never intended to actually meet in person," Knaapen said of his interaction with the decoy, adding "he seemed to enjoy it." Knaapen also acknowledged he had engaged in "very inappropriate conversation" with the decoy and admitted to sending photos and videos of his genitalia.
Rosen pressed Knaapen by asking what was "interesting or provocative" about his interaction with the 14-year-old, to which Knaapen said he found it flattering that a younger person was interested in him. Knaapen then admitted to giving his home address to the decoy and acknowledged he had invited the 14-year-old to meet "multiple times." Head of LGBTQ Dems of Maryland gets graphic and solicits 14-year-old boy...
This was filmed June 20th, 2024 in Montgomery County, Maryland pic.twitter.com/ePzWT9xJeh
— Alex Rosen (@iFightForKids) June 23, 2024
Rosen discussed Maryland law enforcement's lack of involvement in the sting operation and noted his team originally brought Knaapen to authorities' attention last November, though law enforcement reportedly "didn't want to do anything with it." Rosen also noted that although Knaapen admitted on camera to sending sexually explicit photos of his genitalia to the 14-year-old decoy and possession of child abuse material, Maryland law does not recognize sting operations conducted outside of law enforcement's discretion.
"We are still gong to turn all of this over to the cops, but calling them to the scene would have done nothing," Rosen said of his investigation.
Rosen later shared a visitor log showing Knaapen had visited the White House three times last summer. Why is the pedophile we just busted hanging out at the white house and meeting up with Biden assistants? https://t.co/qZD9g4xXEy pic.twitter.com/kJM6vclhDw
— Alex Rosen (@iFightForKids) June 24, 2024
"The Michael Knaapen story would not have made it on Twitter 1.0," Rosen said of X, referring to then-Twitter's ownership prior to Elon Musk's 2022 acquisition of the company.
Rosen also shared the transcript of Knaapen's sexually explicit conversation with the 14-year-old decoy.
The MDP LGBTQ+ Diversity Leadership Council's stated mission is to "energize activists through the state, register voters, amplify the Democratic message, engage with members of the diverse LGBTQ+ communities, and supplement the coordinated campaign to turn out Democratic voters" throughout the state. Knaapen appears to have been scrubbed from the council's website, though the organization has not released a statement as of Monday.
