Photo: creephunters.com

UPDATED: 1:55 p.m.

The B.C. Ministry of Justice says the sheriff accused by the Creep Hunters has been put on leave.

"The Court Services Branch learned of this allegation with regard to one of its deputy sheriffs," a person with the Ministry of Justice said in a statement. "The Branch takes these allegations very seriously. We can confirm that this employee is on leave, pending further investigation."

ORIGINAL: 1:20 p.m.

The Creep Hunters are accusing a Kamloops sheriff of attempting to engage in a relationship with what he thought was a 14-year-old girl.

Formerly called the Creep Catchers, the Creep Hunters have made recent headlines as vigilantes who pose as young girls, catching alleged would-be pedophiles.

The group then posts text conversations, along with videos of their meet-ups, to their website.

In the most recent Kamloops case, the group posted an ad on Craigslist, claiming to be a 14-year-old girl.

A man contacted the group and engaged in conversation that turned sexual in nature. In the conversation he sent pictures of a man in a sheriff's uniform, and claimed it was him.

He also sent naked pictures of himself.

While the Creep Hunters tell the man early on that they are a 14-year-old girl, the man claims he thought the person was older than 14.

“I honestly thought you were older, even though you did say you were 14,” the man said, when confronted by the Creep Hunters on the phone. “You did say you were 14, I will full-on say that I read that in the texts, that you said you were 14, but honestly I didn't believe that you were that age, just by the texts.”

At one point, before he was confronted, the man appears to have regretted his previous texts.

“I should not have been sending you any naked pics,” he wrote. “The other ones are ok, but I do not want you to think I was taking advantage of you due to your age.”

Castanet has not revealed the name or picture of the man as he has not yet been charged with any crime.