Body cam: Rogers County deputies arrest accused child predator

Body camera video shows Rogers County deputies arresting a man accused of talking sexually online with someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl. They say the man was actually talking with an online predator group, and they went to his house and confronted him on camera.

Sheriff Scott Walton says the group did great work, but their approach can be dangerous.

Initial 911 Call:

The suspect, Steven Shieldnight, is the one who called 911, saying there were men at his house who were shoving a camera in his face and showing him pictures he had taken of himself. Deputies say Shieldnight admitted on the 911 call that he had been talking online to someone he thought was an underage girl.

Body Camera Video:

Body camera video shows Rogers County deputies arresting Shieldnight in his house. They say Shieldnight admitted to talking online to someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl. Investigators say Shieldnight said he had deleted some of the messages from his phone because he knew it wasn't right.

They say Shieldnight was really talking to an online predator group, and the group showed up at Shieldnight's house to confront him.

"They showed up at this man's house, and they were right. They knew what they were doing. They preserved the evidence that we needed to show what conversations this individual had had with what he believed to be a 14-year-old girl," Sheriff Scott Walton.

The group's members told deputies their conversations with Shieldnight were sexual and Shieldnight had sent several sexual pictures.

"They did a stellar job, God bless them for doing what they did. It's for the good of the order, no one can argue that. We just don't want the good old boys or good old girls getting hurt in any way," said Walton.

The dangers of taking the law into your own hands:

Sheriff Scott Walton appreciates the group's work and supports anyone fighting against child predators, but he says there's a right way to do it. Certain laws need to be followed in order for charges to be filed and for a better chance at convictions.

"That's the only plea that we have on these deals is: bring us into these plans. We are all about taking perverted predators in jail, and that's what happened yesterday," said Walton. "By the grace of God, we are thankful everybody, this worked out great. A perverted predator went to jail, and no good guys were hurt in any way."

Shieldnight is now booked in the Rogers County jail.