CLAY COUNTY, Fla. — A self-proclaimed vigilante with a massive social media following is now facing criminal charges in Clay County, accused of taking matters into his own hands in a way deputies say crossed the line.
The Clay County Sheriff’s Office says 32-year-old Jay Carnicom posed as a minor online, luring men to meet him in person under the belief they were going to have sex with a child. Instead, deputies say, those meetings turned into confrontations that were recorded and later posted online.
Online, there are multiple videos tied to Carnicom’s accounts, including one filmed at a Walmart in Middleburg. In the video, Carnicom publicly confronts a man in the store.
“Excuse me, everybody, this guy’s here to try to have sex with a little boy,” Carnicom says in the video.
That confrontation is now part of a criminal case. The video, which runs more than 20 minutes, escalates. At one point, the man is slapped.
Deputies say that the incident led to battery and extortion charges against Carnicom.
Investigators say that was not an isolated case. In another video from January, Carnicom is accused of luring a different man and then forcing him to eat cigarette butts while threatening to expose their private conversations. A third case in February, detailed in a heavily redacted arrest warrant, alleges a similar setup.
Online, Carnicom has built a following of more than a million people across platforms like Facebook and Instagram through his group “Dads Against Predators.” His pages are filled with videos of similar confrontations, many with millions of views, where he again appears to pose as a minor to lure men.
But law enforcement says those kinds of vigilante tactics can undermine real investigations.
When we asked the Clay County Sheriff’s Office whether the men involved in these cases could face charges, a spokesperson responded, saying, “Yes, we investigated the allegations. While we can’t provide specifics on those investigations, there’s a plethora of legal reasons why we can’t pursue charges in these types of situations - and it’s because of these vigilante actions and methods. The subjects involved will not face charges.”
The spokesperson went on to say, “Child exploitation investigations are among the most complex and real cases involving child exploitation require trained, certified law enforcement professionals who follow strict legal procedures to ensure offenders are held accountable the right way.
The Clay County Sheriff’s Office takes these investigations extremely seriously. This year alone we’ve investigated over 200 cybertips and made over 10 arrests. We are founding members of the Northeast Florida Intercept Task Force and investigated over 1,600 cases since its inception in 2023: a majority involving child exploitation and child sexual abuse material.
We are not in this for clicks, likes and views. We are here to hold offenders accountable and put suspects in jail."
That decision is raising questions about accountability on both sides.
“That guy needs to be arrested. Both of them need to be arrested immediately,” one woman said. “Or they need to do something about it, or it’s just going to keep getting worse.”
We also uncovered that Carnicom has been arrested in other states, including Texas, North Carolina, and Nebraska, in connection with similar incidents.
Now, in Clay County, deputies say his so-called stings have come to an end, at least for now, as he faces charges that could carry serious consequences.
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