Suspended sentence for creator of Hunted and Confronted

The creator of Hunted and Confronted, a nationally broadcasted program that targets pedophiles, will serve two years on probation for his heroin addiction.

Jesse Weeks, 29, whose Hunted and Confronted Facebook group gained national prominence on reality TV and television news channels, was sentenced Monday in Coeur d’Alene’s First District Court to two years supervised probation as part of a suspended three-year prison sentence.

Weeks was arrested last spring after he overdosed on heroin at his mother’s Post Falls home.

At Monday’s hearing, prosecutors said Weeks was released from jail to attend community-based drug rehabilitation, but he had on several occasions tested positive for opioid use. Prosecutors asked First District Judge Scott Wayman to send Weeks to a prison rehab program as part of his sentence.

Weeks told the court the opioids found in his system were a result of prescription codeine from his doctor. His attorney, John Redal, said Weeks was staying true to the regime laid out by the court.

Weeks got hooked on opioids in painkillers, he said, following a severe injury as a teenager.

“I never drank, or smoked marijuana ... I had a 3.5 GPA,” Weeks said. “But I ended up with an opiate addiction.”

Deputies who responded to Weeks’ residence on South Greensferry Road in May said family members had locked Weeks — who had a previous drug conviction — out of his house after they discovered he had used heroin.

Weeks told deputies that he was an addict, had relapsed, and the black tar heroin and paraphernalia authorities found in his bedroom belonged to him.

He was charged with possession of a controlled substance, which can carry up to seven years in prison.

On Monday, Wayman sentenced Weeks to an 18-month fixed prison term as part of a 36-month sentence.

The judge said Weeks was given the opportunity to kick drugs through community-based rehab and that he should be allowed to complete the program. If he fails, the prison sentence could be imposed.

Weeks started Hunted and Confronted in 2018 to help police catch adults who solicit sex from teenagers online. An interstate truck driver by profession, Weeks last year said his group turned more than 18 cases over to authorities.