At first, the SickFreak Inc. headquarters in La Maison Du Bayou looks like your typical college student residence.
One soon notices, however, the surprisingly well-rendered poster on the wall opposite the door, which proudly displays the SickFreak logo. Visitors are encouraged to “slap it and respect it.”
SickFreak Inc. exists as a wild fusion of comedy, music and preventative crime fighting. Formed by sophomore Adrian Bourgeois in February, the organization strives to locate online child predators and, through non-violent methods, attempt to stop them dead in their tracks.
“It’s crazy how easy it is,” Bourgeois said. “I guess that’s why they started all the shows on TV about it. It’s just way too easy.”
Bourgeois and his SickFreak partner and roommate Derek Matherne enter Yahoo chat rooms aimed at chatters looking for “relationships.” They then suit up in phony usernames and childlike font colors to begin the hunt. Posing as young teens well under the age of consent, the two receive several responses within seconds.
“You’ve got to dumb yourself down,” Matherne said. “You have to type really weird. If you spell everything right, they’ll know something’s up.”
Though uncomfortable at first, the chatting quickly became routine and even developed into a hobby. The SickFreak guys even use webcam chatting, masking their voices to sound young and vulnerable.
“Every night is something different,” Bourgeois said. “You think you see it all one night, then you see something crazier the next night.”
The suspicious online chatters come from all over the country, and one was even found to be living in Thibodaux. Photos of the known predators are posted on the SickFreak Inc. Web site. Bourgeois and Matherne have interacted with these men extensively before deeming them dangerous and worthy of the attention.
SickFreak Inc. has also been in touch with lawyers and local law enforcement, making sure their methods are completely legal. The processes for legally pursuing the predators are complicated and dangerous, so the guys at SickFreak Inc. focus on engaging with them on a personal level and confronting them under the radar.
“We mainly want to get them to think about it before they do it again,” Bourgeois said.
Sometimes the truth is not revealed to the predators right away. Some of the more intense cases may last several weeks.
“The longer I talk to them, the longer they might stay away from someone that’s a real kid,” Matherne said. “I’ll keep it going for as long as I can. For that two hours we might talk a night, I know I’m keeping their attention away from someone else.”
SickFreak Inc. is most active online, where songs, videos, chat logs and t-shirts are available.
The SickFreak goal is to bring awareness to people of the Nicholls community and beyond. Bourgeois and Matherne hope to appeal to everyone’s interests through comedy and music in order to reveal an uncomfortable but serious issue.
“It’s a real problem,” Bourgeois said. “It’s not just an isolated case like people might think.”
Perhaps the most accurate description of what SickFreak Inc. is all about can be found on the official Facebook page. “We are To Catch a Predator mixed with the swag of college kids.”
