An Indian origin associate professor, Nisarg Jaydeep Shah, at the University of California, San Diego, was accused of initiating inappropriate conversations with a 14-year-old boy. An Edmonton-based advocacy group, ‘People vs Predators,’ confronted Shah in a general store and asked for accountability. Allegations that he had denied earlier, Shah was quick to reply, “I f* up, I need to get help.”

However, the San Diego police officials arrived at the scene promptly afterwards. But, they said they couldn’t arrest Shah because the incident is still under investigation by the ‘Internet Crimes Against Children’ (ICAC) task force. As an explanation that made the ‘People vs Preds’ confrontation video void, SDPF Lieutenant Travis Easter said that the ICAC did not work with civilians “acting as undercover operatives”. Shortly before confronting Shah outside the store, he was spotted looking for a contraceptive as per another sting video released on the ‘People vs Preds’ page, labelling him as “Catch 539”.

Who is Nisarg Jaydeep Shah? What did he do?

The advocacy group leaked private messages between Shah and an alleged 14-year-old boy on a queer dating app, Grindr, from August 2. There were explicit messages exchanged between the two participants in the chat. As per the screen-recording posted on the People v. Preds’ X (formerly Twitter) account, Shah was explicitly told, “being 14 sucks”. This did not faze him, as he went on to ask if he had built relations with someone close to his age – “like at school or something”. To this, the boy replied, “I told you I’m ‘dl’ [down-low].”

In their chats, Shah was seen sending images of himself as both participants collude to make a plan to meet after the boy’s father leaves his house. Denying the allegations, Shah said, “I would have been willing to share my account, my attorney will not let me do so, but he would be happy to speak with you,” he said to the outlet.

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While there has been no formal action against Shah yet, the San Diego police officials have clarified that Shah cannot be arrested, based on this confrontation video alone. However, the phone provided by the independent group was registered as evidence. The police also advised independent actors that, without training, even well-meaning civilians can potentially put themselves and the community in danger in an attempt to seek justice.

University of California’s response

The University of California San Diego (UCSD) issued a statement that they were aware of the allegations against Nisarg J. Shah. They said, “We will cooperate with all law enforcement agencies as needed during any investigation. The health, well-being, and safety of our campus community members is our top priority.”

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The People v. Preds group also accused Roger Haenke of sexual misconduct with a minor yesterday. A member of the church was reportedly having conversations with minors of dating apps.