A jailed Pittsburgh attorney is thinking about suing the group that tricked him into believing an underage girl wanted to meet him for sex, which led to a guilty plea to a charge of attempted corruption of a minor.
Paul Luvara’s law license has been suspended and he’s currently at SCI Forest in Marienville, but he still managed to find a lawyer to ask the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on Nov. 5 for permission to investigate 814PredHunters.
That group creates fake social media profiles of underage girls then notifies police when adults initiate sexual conversations. Its work led Punxsutawney police to a McDonald’s in 2023, where Luvara had agreed to meet the fake girl.
His guilty plea, which includes a charge of criminal use of a communication facility, carries a minimum sentence of 30 months and a maximum of seven years. In the meantime, he’s asking to conduct discovery before possibly filing a lawsuit against 814PredHunters, police and Jefferson County.
“As a result of the illegal and vigilante actions of 814… Plaintiff was the victim of entrapment that resulted in his unlawful arrest…” the suit says.
The two-year window to sue will expire on Dec. 2, and Luzara is asking to depose 814 founder Brian Knepp. He also wants his police case file.
The affidavit of probable cause from December 2023 says Knepp contacted Corporal Jeff Winfield with proof of sexually explicit messages between Luvara, 34 years old at the time, and what he believed was a 15-year-old girl.
Messages from Luvara asked for a meeting, with one reading “So what’s a sexy woman like you looking for on here.” They continued to get more and more explicit and won’t be reprinted here, though they can be found in public documents.
Ultimately, Luvara sent a picture of his GPS that showed he would arrive at the McDonald’s at 2:49 p.m. Winfield was waiting on him, but after activating his lights Luvara would not exit the vehicle. Instead, he kept reaching under his seat.
“I yelled at him to stop reaching under the seat. He continued to reach,” Winfield wrote.
“I grabbed him and pulled him out of the vehicle with force and took him to the ground. As I did this, a Glock 17 (9mm) hand gun, fully loaded, fell out onto the ground next to Luvara.”
The interplay between 814, located in Clearfield County, and authorities isn’t always perfectly smooth. The Clearfield County district attorney has suggested they keep predators in their home venues instead of luring them to Clearfield County.
A judge there also dismissed cases in 2023 after writing predator-hunter groups do not qualify to pose as would-be victims. And earlier this year, Ohio police warned groups like 814 of the same.
George Farneth II represents Luvara.
