Former Meta employee ‘caught in paedophile sting video’

A former community development manager at Meta has been caught in an anti-paedophile sting after allegedly sending sexually explicit texts to someone he believed to be a 13-year-old.

The individual, who cannot be named for legal reasons but was the “manager of community development” at Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, was confronted by ‘Predator Catchers Indianapolis’, a YouTube channel that exposes alleged sexual predators.

In a two hour-long livestream posted to the channel, the interrogators claimed the man sent sexually explicit messages and allegedly planned to meet a child called Corey at his hotel room.

The 35-year-old said that he was “flirting” with the child and gave “information [and] location” but “there was never any intention of ever meeting up with him.”

In one message, the interrogator claims that the man told the purported 13-year-old that he would “enjoy naked cuddles on a cold evening with you pressed up against me”.

When asked if he sent this message, the man replies: “I did.” The alleged messages become more explicit from this point. The man later said that this was the “one time I’ve done this”.

The alleged paedophile appears to have deleted his social media accounts, but an archived record of his Facebook profile shows that he listed his job as “Community Development at Meta” and that he is from Daleville, Indiana.

“The seriousness of these allegations cannot be overstated”, a Meta spokesperson told The Independent in a statement.

“The individual is no longer employed with the company. We are actively investigating this situation and cannot provide further comment at this time.”