The Walls Are Closing In On Dads Against Predators
Legally and ethically, Josh and Jay are getting squeezed
What would you do if someone told you that all you had to do to put a known pedophile in prison was show up to court once? Personally, I’d go to court that one day, but I don’t share the convictions and priorities of Dads Against Predators. But before that, I’d like to address what has been happening with this group since I started covering them.
After I published the YouTube adaptation of my article on the group, I got some attention from Joshua Mundy, one of the founders of Dads Against Predators. He made a video responding to me, which consisted of an hour and a half of watching my video and periodically pausing to reveal some freudian slip or hilarious incompetence.
There were a lot of really great moments in the video. One was when Mundy said that:
“I’m a beaver building a dam when we have a government that could build the fucking dam. I am a beaver chopping this wood down with my fucking teeth”
I enjoy this analogy a lot. First, because Mundy implies that beavers help engineers when building dams*. Second, because he seems to think beavers are building dams because they really hate water and not because water is something beavers rely on to not be homeless. If the point trying to be made is that DAP is a rodent like inconvenience to public works projects, then I must concede it, but I get the feeling he means something else.
*apparently beavers can do this sometimes but my point stands
Young Man’s Game
I also get the feeling Mundy is making these types of videos now because he knows things are changing. If you want to stay relevant as a content creator of any stripe, you either have to be really exceptional at what you do, or you have to evolve. An exceptional novelist or a cinematic auteur can mold the perceptions of their audience with just their name. But DAP is not the project of medium defining genius, it’s the project of two guys from Ohio that walk to the gas station in basketball shorts so they can buy Delta 8.
Really, it’s a miracle that they got as far as they did based off their current set up. Shaky phone cameras, ill defined mission statement, uploading videos months after they happen, it’s impressive they got this far. But catching is a young man’s game, one Josh and Jay are aging out of.
This isn’t because catching predators is particularly hard on one’s body (it’s not like they ever confront someone they don’t have outnumbered). No, the wear and tear comes from the legal demands of working in this business. Sure, for the first few years you can avoid catching that many cases as you go after guys that aren’t going to talk to the police about what they were doing, and if you do get in trouble, it’s a misdemeanor at worst. But every catch is a new chance being taken, a chance you get a little too excited and swing too hard, a chance you didn’t make it totally clear you were supposed to be 13 in those messages, a chance the person you messed with wants to take this to court.
Jay Carnicom, one of DAP’s founders, just got out of an Austin Texas jail. He got in this situation because, unsurprisingly, he was beating someone up in a parking lot for a video. Currently, it looks like he was locked up for a charge for Engaging in Organized Criminal Activity (EOCA), although there might be more in the future. He posted videos indicating he was released to Locals, went radio silent for about two weeks, and then came out with another video of him chasing someone into an apartment building in Gainesville, Florida. Of course, Jay never specifies that it’s in Gainesville to warn the residents, that was only possible because I managed to cross reference the sign for a D.P. Dough franchise location with the wording on an apartment building and the types of trees in the background.
See, it’s pretty easy to get charges like Jay’s plead down if the offenders turn themselves in. Crucially, it’s easier for everyone involved if this happens. Jay apparently did not realize this, instead opting to leave the state and getting an active warrant in the process. This resulted in Jay getting arrested for an out of state warrant in Clay County, Florida on September 24th, 2025.
Like most things with DAP, this was an incredibly stupid move that didn’t really benefit anyone in the long run. While the other suspects written up in this case (including Kick streamer Ac7ionMan) seem to have all gone free without incident, Jay has no such luck. According to a source familiar with the case, Jay is likely going to be facing the full felony charge Engaging in Organized Criminal Activity. Based on his previous behavior, this wasn’t anything radically new or different, but the fact he skipped town for almost a year makes this case much more serious.
A felony conviction would make Jay’s job a whole lot more difficult, even after he leaves prison. The minimum sentence for EOCA in Texas is six months with a maximum of two years, but if it’s bumped up to a third degree felony, two years becomes the minimum sentence. In a fast paced media ecosystem, it’s pretty hard to stay out of the game for a couple years. Sure, if you’re a lauded writer or director you can take some time off, but not if you’re a content creator. He could try the pedo hunting routine in prison, but I think thats already taken care of by everyone else in prison. It’s difficult to compete price wise with something bored prisoners do for free.
Jay can keep doing what he’s doing, but it won’t last forever. The legal repercussions will hasten the end of his operation fast if he doesn’t find a way to deal with them. Judging by the fact the first thing he did out of jail was cross state lines to film himself hitting someone in the lobby of an apartment building, I think hold habits are dying hard. At this point, the best we can hope for is that Jay has had the foresight to invest at least some of his income into his kids’ college funds before he gets locked up again, but like before, I’m not optimistic.
Joshua Mundy at least has some kind of idea for what he can do in the future. After recording his response video, he seemed to have gotten back in the mood for content creation, uploading two episodes of his podcast since. He’s also opted to reupload older videos instead of new ones. One he posted to locals showed a Christmas tree in the predator’s house and another uploaded to Instagram is at least a year old. As Jay seems content on burning twice as bright, Josh wants to go twice as long.
But it’s tough. Josh is clearly uncomfortable and out of his element trying to host a show. He seems to want his personal gravitas to carry the program without a central theme or gimmick beyond that. You certainly can get away with this type of podcast if your proprietary audience is large enough, but if he wants to live off of it, Josh needs more juice than he has.
Sure, Josh can get some decent views on his podcast, but is it enough to eventually replace his Locals revenue if he runs into legal trouble? Is there much to Josh’s brand if you phase out the predator catches? I wouldn’t point this out if it wasn’t a very real existential threat to this man’s livelihood. Who knows what will happen when such an erratic man grows desperate, what will he do to keep his lot in life? Well, we don’t know, but we do know what he wouldn’t do.
Evil Triumphs When Stupid Men Don’t Do The Bare Minimum
“It is alleged that on Monday, March 27, 2023 Kalemaj attempted to meet with who he thought was a young girl to engage in sexual activity after meeting on an internet site. A member of a group called “Dads Against Predators” was actually posing as the young girl. Kalemaj set up a date with who he thought was the young girl but two members of “Dads Against Predators” confronted him instead. The police were called and Sinan Kalemaj was arrested.” - press release by Peter J. Lucido, Macomb County Prosecuting Attorney, March 31st, 2023.
“Child sexually abusive activity and computer charges against a Sterling Heights man were dismissed this month after the witnesses did not appear in court, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Sinan Kalemaj, 24, was accused of arranging to meet a 13-year-old for sex, according to the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office.
He was scheduled for a preliminary exam Sept. 12, but when the witnesses did not attend the hearing, the case was dismissed.
He was charged with three counts of child sexually abusive activity and three counts of using a computer to commit a crime.” - report by Kara Berg of the Detroit News, September 23, 2023.
On September 12th, 2023, Dads Against Predators let a pedophile walk free, all because they simply couldn’t be asked to show up at the court house. It really boggles the mind just how easy this was to avoid, and how much of the motivation can be understood as an almost completely pure disregard for justice and child welfare. And this wasn’t some slap on the wrist being avoided either, according to another Detroit News report, Sinan Kalemaj was facing two felonies with up to 20 year sentences each.
Even of you only cared about catching pedophiles in a way that was entirely cynical, purely just as a means to an end for making content, you would realize how moronic this is. To risk all your credibility so that you don’t have to spend an hour in a court room on a Tuesday morning. If I was a father myself, I can’t imagine how I’d be able to look my children in the eyes knowing I didn’t do the bare minimum to stop this man that hunts for children getting released back on to the streets.
FWIW, I was able to figure out what Kalemaj is up to now. He was bragging about beating the case under an Instagram post. I confirmed it was him in direct messages and alerted the boxing gym he seems to be training at now, Throwback Boxing in Fraser, Michigan, near Detroit. I’d encourage others to contact Throwback if possible and let them know to keep an eye out for this person. He’s also going by Nani now, so this isn’t the fault of Throwback for not knowing.
This really trumps all the other criticisms I’ve made against DAP in terms of what it represents. I think the sloppiness of their tactics have let far more predators get away, but I can’t prove that definitively, it exists as a theoretical outcome. This is not theoretical, this can be proven as happening and the only explanation for it is that the two members of Dads Against Predators chose to let a known predator go through their own inaction.
I don’t expect things to get better for DAP (Dads Apathetic about Predators) as the years go on. I expect this won’t be my last time writing about them, and I don’t expect they’ll stop talking about me. But my job is only getting easier, and their job harder, with each new court case.