Meta worker from New York who developed ‘digital experiences for kids’ allegedly caught sexting 13yo girl

A New York man who worked for the Mark Zuckerberg-owned company, Meta, has been accused of sexting and grooming a minor. Josh Felker, 44, had previously worked for Facebook’s parent company developing “digital experiences for kids.”

Felker reportedly admitted to grooming and sexting an individual he believed to be a 13-year-old girl, according to an article from the New York Post. The engineer was confronted by a vigilante group called the “Predator Poachers Long Island.” The group does exactly what you’d expect, organizing stings to catch pedophiles, groomers, and other such criminals.

The group had posed as a 13-year-old girl online and chatted with the 44-year-old, who allegedly reached out to the “decoy” account back in May and has been messaging them ever since. Felker also admitted to a member of the group posing as the decoy’s grandmother, “Even though inappropriate things had already gone on, I just almost wish I could be her dad.”

It’s alleged that Felker quickly turned his conversation with the decoy, whom he believed to be 13, into something inappropriate. He’s also been accused of trying to teach the girl how to masturbate, which included sending videos of himself masturbating to the decoy child account. He also apparently tried to organize an in-person meet-up, according to Mike Villani, one of the predator catchers.

Felker initially tried to flee

The predator poachers approached Felker outside of his apartment in Murray Hill on Wednesday, where he initially, he tried to flee from the group. However, he eventually agreed to talk as he apparently feared his mother-in-law, who was in his apartment, would find out about his attempted cheating on his wife with a minor.

In the video, Felker, who has a small child of his own, admitted that it was him behind the messages and even claimed that he had done something similar with a minor before. “I did this once before with another girl who is underage,” he said. He then went on to blame his wife and their apparently sexless marriage for pushing him down such a dark path.

The group of predator catchers spoke with Josh Felker for almost two hours before police arrived to put the man in cuffs. He was arrested near his Manhattan apartment after confessing to several crimes on camera. The former Meta employee was charged with disseminating indecent material to minors as well as endangering the welfare of a child. 

At his arraignment on Thursday, Felker pleaded not guilty to the charges. He will be due back in court on September 9.