Browse
Log in / Register
Share
Six people face charges in Montgomery County after investigators say they ran a kidnapping-and-extortion ring behind the “pedophile hunters” label, according to court records reviewed May 9, 2026. The Philadelphia group used fake teen profiles to lure adult men, then tried to “arrest” them before demanding money for silence, authorities said. Prosecutors say the cash went into guns, vacations, and luxury vehicles.
The alleged ringleader, Daquine Owens, 29, and five co-defendants face counts that include racketeering, kidnapping, robbery, and firearms violations. The Montgomery County District Attorney’s office named Owens; his wife, Ajahnae Owens, 31; his mother, Najwa Owens, 46; Aysir Bond, 23; Gregory Johnson, 25; and Keith Cirwithen-Howell, 29, of Dover, Delaware.
The crew called itself “Always Running Plays” (ARP), a street term for robbery. Members also had the group’s logo tattooed and ordered custom jewelry to go with it. Investigators described the operation as a coordinated criminal enterprise built on a simple business model: find a target online, scare him, and take his money. District Attorney Kevin Steele said the scheme was designed to finance a lifestyle that could not be supported through legally obtained and documented income.
The case came to light after an incident in June 2025 outside a LongHorn Steakhouse in Lower Merion. In that episode, investigators said Owens, Bond, and Cirwithen-Howell posed as police officers and kidnapped a man who had been chatting online with what he believed was a 17-year-old girl.
Court records say the man was invited to meet the teenager at the restaurant. Instead, he was met by armed men in tactical vests who identified themselves as members of an “8th Precinct Special Task Force.” They told him he was under arrest because he was a pedophile, placed him in handcuffs, and forced him into a vehicle.
The group drove him around Philadelphia and then stopped at Belmont Plateau, an open area in Fairmount Park. There, they gave him an ultimatum: pay them, and they would release him and stay quiet about the supposed child-sex offense. The man agreed. He pulled money from a Wawa ATM and made several transfers to accounts controlled by Najwa Owens and another member of the group, losing more than $50,000 in total.
After his arrest, Daquine Owens claimed the victim decided on his own to pay the so-called hunters to keep quiet. But the affidavit said phone and social media evidence contradicted that version of events.
The probe did not stop at that single incident. A review of cellphones and social media accounts belonging to group members revealed the same behavior against at least two other people since 2021, according to the court papers.
In one reported case, the group extorted the same man for years, collecting more than $100,000 that helped pay for vacations and other expensive items. Prosecutors also noted that none of the people the group targeted had been confirmed as child abusers. The victims appear to have been singled out because they engaged in online conversations with personas that claimed to be underage.
That distinction is important, investigators said, because the group used the accusation of pedophilia as a weapon. The targets were threatened with exposure, arrest, or social ruin if they did not cooperate.
The money flow was a key part of the case. According to investigators, the group spent the proceeds on Miami and Mexico vacations, leased high-end cars and yachts, and paid for custom jewelry and tattoos. The spending was a sign that the enterprise was being treated as a well-funded operation, not a series of one-off robberies.
The gun purchases drew particular attention in the affidavit. Owens had prior felony convictions for drug offenses and robbery, making it illegal for him to possess firearms. But authorities said his wife, Ajahnae, had a clean record and bought multiple weapons on his behalf. Owens later posed with those guns on social media, flaunting a firearm that police say his wife falsely reported as stolen during an Airbnb rental in Florida.
That report was part of an effort to cover the group’s access to weapons, prosecutors said.
The six defendants are being prosecuted in Montgomery County. As of May 9, 2026, five were in custody after failing to post bail. Najwa Owens was released after posting $2,500 bail. Bond had not been arrested; investigators said an arrest warrant had been issued.
Daquine Owens’s attorney, Robert Gamburg, did not respond to a request for comment. No attorney information was immediately available for the other defendants.
The charges are not limited to individual incidents. The racketeering count ties the members to a continuing criminal operation, a point prosecutors emphasized in describing the organizational structure.
The case highlights a recurring concern about self-styled “pedophile hunters.” Online vigilante groups have grown in popularity in recent years, presenting themselves as defenders of children. But, as this filing shows, the label can be used for criminal scams, and the consequences can be dangerous.
Amateur stings can also create real damage to legitimate investigations. When people are confronted in parking lots, handcuffed, or filmed without due process, evidence can be lost, witnesses can be intimidated, and actual child predators can benefit from the confusion. In this case, the suspects allegedly moved from impersonating law enforcement to committing armed kidnapping.
Montgomery County authorities said anyone with information about child exploitation should report it through official channels, rather than taking matters into their own hands. The charging documents, prosecutors stressed, show the difference between genuine safeguarding and street-level extortion.
