US — San Diego, California. A transgender activist and political campaigner is accused of attempting to meet an underage child for the purpose of engaging in prohibited sexual acts.

Clint Alan Goss was caught in an August 4 sting by the vigilante pedophile hunting group CC Unit after allegedly arranging a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old child.

A pedophile hunter identified only as ‘Ghost’ captured footage in which he confronts Mr Goss, who is shown seated on a chair outside his apartment building before Ghost approaches, greets him by name and with an outstretched hand.

Mr Goss shakes Ghost’s hand with a smile, but then rises from the chair and walks quickly toward the entrance of his building.

The pedophile hunter then says he has proof of Mr Goss engaging in “sexually explicit” discussions with a person he believed to be a minor prior to arranging the encounter at his home.

Mr Goss does not appear to deny that he had engaged in the sexually explicit conversation and sought to meet an adolescent, but insists he was “just trying to help.”

Mr Goss then stresses to Ghost: “You know that I work for Nancy Pelosi, work for Hillary Clinton.” One Facebook photo shows the Houston native posing beside Sheila Jackson, who has served as US Representative for Texas’s 18th congressional district since 1995.

In a bizarre Facebook status dated September 24 of last year, Mr Goss called for those with differing political and religious views to be “burned at the stake.”

In an August 5 Facebook status, Mr Goss appears to acknowledge having been caught up in the pedophile sting, remarking: “That’s what I get for getting on grindr.” Grindr is a dating and social networking app for gay and bisexual male individuals.

One Facebook user replied to the status, “I watched this livestream- Clint decided to get cute and have Door Dash deliver food to Ghost while [Ghost] waited over an hour for the cops who never showed up. I’m sure Clint went inside and made some phone calls to buy some time! Can you believe the nerve of this guy??”

Users on social media note that video mirrors of the confrontation between Mr Goss and the pedophile hunter were being “scrubbed” from social media networks, including YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. It is unclear who is behind the removal of the videos, and the basis for the removals.

A search of San Diego County Sheriff’s arrest database shows that Mr Goss is not in police custody. It is not known whether charges will be pressed against Mr Goss in relation to the incident.