38-Year-Old Woman Disguises Herself as Teen Girls to Help Catch Sexual Predators

A 38-year-old woman who disguises herself as teen girls to help catch sexual predators is the focus of a new docuseries that’s garnering a great deal of attention ahead of its November release.

Roo Powell, founder of the Safe From Online Sex Abuse (SOSA) non-profit, is able to utilize a variety of unique methods to track down predators, who themselves are often using extensive identity-obscuring measures. 

“Every day, adults exploit and abuse minors online. … My organization helps law enforcement stop them,” Powell, a mother of three, says in early footage of the six-part Discovery+ series. The disguises, as the footage makes clear, aren’t simple. The meticulous process involves everything from staged rooms to entire backstories for different personas.