‘TAP’: Trucker behind the arrest of an alleged predator
A trucker, who made a stop in Yuma, is behind a group that helped confront a local man accused of child sex crimes.
Anthony Greene is the brainchild behind ‘Truckers Against Predators’ – or TAP and Monday turned out to be an eventful morning for the 20-year trucker.
Thirty-year-old Matthew Sanchez turned himself into police after he was confronted at Love’s Travel Stop off Gila Ridge Road. In the now viral video, Greene is the man who confronted Sanchez.
Police said Sanchez texted explicit pictures of himself to who he thought was a 13-year-old girl.
“He did send an inappropriate picture via text message and other text messages of what he was wanting to do,” Sgt. Lori Franklin with the Yuma Police Department said.
Greene said their mission is to help one child at a time.
In sting operations, TAP uses decoy members across the county who log onto popular apps such as Musical.ly, SnapChat, and even dating apps posing as young teens. Greene then confronts the suspected child predator and streams the confrontation live on Facebook.
Operating for nearly four months, TAP has caught several allege child sex predators, including in Yuma.
” There is no drug that can emulate the feeling of watching one of these guys go to jail,” Greene said.
It’s a subject close to Greene.
“I am a survivor. Something terrible happened when I was young and so I would love to see other children never have to suffer through a terrible situation,” he added.
Sanchez is facing charges for transmitting obscene material, luring a minor for sexual exploitation, and aggravated luring a minor for sex.
During Sanchez’s initial court appearance Monday, the judge ordered him not to engage on social media and set a secured bond of $100,000.
He will be back in court Wednesday.
Greene hopes TAP will lay the footwork for new legislation state-by-state to protect children from predators.
Greene adds Arizona law and law enforcement are perfect examples to set as precedents working with other state legislatures.
