College student uses Snapchat gender swap filter to nab alleged predator cop

Using Snapchat's new gender-switch filter, Ethan became Esther ... and essentially launched his own version of To Catch a Predator.

Police said after discussing Esther's age and acknowledging she was a minor, Davies continued to talk about "engaging in sexual activity." Davies gave Ethan enough information for him to figure out his identity, police said, and he tipped off the authorities to what was happening. Last week, Davies was arrested and booked on charges of contacting a minor to commit a felony. Davies is now on paid administrative leave from the San Mateo Police Department, and in a statement, Chief Susan Manheimer said if the alleged conduct is true, it "is in no way a reflection of all that we stand for as a department, and is an affront to the tenets of our department and our profession as a whole."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.