'Real Genius' actor Gabriel Jarret caught in controversial paedophile sting operation

Gabriel Jarret, best known for his role in the 1985 film Real Genius alongside Val Kilmer, is now at the center of a controversy.

The 53-year-old actor has been allegedly ensnared in a paedophile sting operation, accused of sending 'sexually explicit' messages to someone he believed was a 13-year-old girl.

The operation was reportedly conducted by the vigilante group known as the Creep Catcher Unit, whose primary mission is to 'expose online predators.'

They claim to have established a decoy account and engaged in communication with Jarret for over a year.

According to reports, Jarret was scheduled to meet with a 'teenager' in Santa Monica on a Sunday night, and screenshots of alleged conversations have been widely shared.

These exchanges supposedly reveal Jarret communicating with an individual he believed to be underage.

In his defense, he maintained that he believed the girl was 18 and that he intended to meet her to instruct her to stop messaging him.

In a now-deleted video, Jarret expressed, "I'm not meeting a 13-year-old girl. I've got someone that was calling me again and again, and I told her again and again, you know, you need to stop this. And she started getting insistent, whatever. And I'm here to tell her to stop. She said she was 18."

The Creep Catcher Unit submitted this footage, along with additional 'evidence,' to the Santa Monica police, who are currently conducting an investigation into the matter.

Messages exchanged between Jarret and the individual in question are said to date back to May 2022 and contain troubling content indicative of grooming behavior.

Moreover, Jarret's alleged use of a phone number matching one he previously listed on court documents filed in LA in 2018 has raised further concerns.