A former Orange County high school teacher is facing serious charges after being caught in an online sting operation.
The operation was set up by a citizen group called “Caught-Fished,” who say they have fake online profiles set up where they pose as young women to try and get men looking for underage girls caught.
The group says they turn in all their evidence to the police. It doesn’t always lead to an arrest, but sometimes it does, as is the case with the former educator.
The video, shot and provided by Caught Fished,” starts with a man sitting on a park bench as another voice off-camera questions him, “Why were you worried about getting in trouble if you were just trying to be her friend?”
“I don’t know because people don’t even approve of older people being friends. That isn’t illegal,” responds the man.
The man on the bench is then accused by the cameraman of having an inappropriate conversation with someone posing as an underage girl
Moments later, officers with the Signal Hill Police Department arrive.
The man in this video is Michael Cadilli, a former teacher at Pacifica High School in Garden Grove
According to the school district, Cadilli was last employed there in 2021. They say his last time he was in a classroom was in 2019.
NBCLA reached out to the school district to learn why Cadilli left the classroom, but has not received a response.
Cadilli was arrested Sunday after prosecutors say he arranged to meet with a girl he believed to be a minor. What Cadilli didn’t know was that he was not communicating with a minor, but instead Caught-Fished.
“I don’t do this for content purposes. I want to get these guys arrested, you know, so I care more about it once I know that they’re there,” said the group’s founder, Antoine Kelly, who goes by big bad wolf. “I just called the police and then while I’m waiting for the police to show up, I just try to waste more time by just talking to these guys.”
Kelly says he has been conducting these operations for three years
As for Cadilli, he has pleaded not guilty to charges of meeting a minor for lewd purposes. He remains in jail on a $25,000 bail.
Since a video of the sting operation involving Cadilli was posted online, the citizen group behind it says they continue to receive tips.
NBCLA reached out to the Garden Grove School District to see if Cadilli had any reports of misconduct during his time with them, but they have not responded yet. Cadilli’s lawyer has also not responded for comment.