A child luring charge approved against a B.C. principal following a sting by the Creep Catchers vigilante group has been stayed.
Prosecutors said the sole charge against 38-year-old Jason Obert was stayed, in part, because of the Crown's concerns about the admissibility of the evidence against him.
"Given the evidentiary challenges posed by the manner in which the evidence was obtained the Crown concluded that it was appropriate and not inconsistent with the public interest to resolve the matter by way of … recognizance," Dan McLaughlin of the B.C. Prosecution Service said in an email.
Instead of facing trial, Obert has been released on a nine-month peace bond that includes a number of conditions restricting his contact with people under the age of 18, McLaughlin said.
He's also barred from leaving the province without written permission.
Obert was working at Windebank Elementary School in Mission before video was uploaded to social media of an Oct. 14 Creep Catchers sting, which was conducted in the food court of an Abbotsford mall.
The vigilante group claimed the target of that sting had tried meeting a 14-year-old for sex.
According to the Mission school district, Obert was off the job and no longer receiving pay shortly after the video was published.
