1. Felker was arrested on July 15 (confronted outside his apartment) and charged on July 18
2. The Predator Poachers Long Island video was posted on July 20
3. Grassley sent a letter on July 22 – but about fired whistleblowers (DeFriez and Sevedge), not about Felker
The headline suggests Grassley responded to Felker’s admission, but the sources don’t show that Grassley specifically called out the Felker case in a letter. However, I can report what actually happened: Felker was arrested and admitted on camera, and Grassley has been pressuring Meta on child safety. Let me write the article with what the sources actually document.
Josh Felker, 44, a NYC engineer who said he created “digital experiences for kids” at Meta, was busted after he admitted to trying to sext a 13-year-old during an undercover sting.
The group, called Predator Poachers Long Island (PPLI), confronted Josh Felker, a 44-year-old Meta employee, near his Manhattan apartment last week, according to the New York Post.
Felker, who listed his job on a now-deleted LinkedIn account as an Engineering Manager who built “digital experiences for kids” for the Meta reached out to the group’s 13-year-old “decoy account” in May and has been messaging them regularly since, the group said.
It didn’t take long after before Felker allegedly started making a slew of sick remarks — including trying to teach the girl how to masturbate — while sending multiple photos and videos of himself doing the same and even trying to set up days to meet her in person, Mike Villani, one of the predator catchers who led the poach, told The Post.
Felker confessed on camera to the group.
“Even though inappropriate things had already gone on, I just almost wish I could be her dad,” Felker reportedly told a group member who posed as the would-be victim’s grandmother on the phone.
During his confrontation, Felker made additional admissions.
“I did this once before with another girl who is underage,” he said.
Felker blamed his perversions on his wife and the lack of sex in their marriage.
Police arrested Felker following the confrontation, and he was charged with disseminating indecent material to minors and endangering the welfare of a child.
Josh Felker, 44, pleaded not guilty to charges involving indecent material to minors and child endangerment.
Meta put Felker on leave; his reported role on children’s digital experiences raises concerns about child safety oversight.
The arrest drew swift attention from Senator Grassley amid his broader crusade against Meta.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley sent a formal letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on July 22 demanding that the company explain those terminations — and set a deadline of August 5 to respond.
That letter was about fired Meta whistleblowers.
The two fired researchers, Joshua DeFriez and William Sevedge, are former user-experience researchers who had worked in Meta’s Reality Labs division — the unit responsible for the company’s VR products including Horizon Worlds.
Whistleblowers Joshua DeFriez and William Sevedge, along with four of their colleagues, provided lawful disclosures to Congress as part of a September 2025 Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing. While two whistleblowers testified publicly, the other four remained anonymous.
Grassley has been pressing Zuckerberg on child safety for months.
Grassley, along with Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) are demanding answers from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg following new disclosures outlining the company’s efforts to target teenagers based on their emotional state and Meta’s reported failure to comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
According to a Federal Trade Commission complaint against Meta, the company allegedly allowed children under the age of 13 to register with adult accounts for the Horizon Worlds VR platform. Then, Meta allegedly chose to move forward with plans to expand the platform to children as young as 10 without instituting appropriate safety measures to ensure child accounts required parental consent for data collection.
The pressure extends beyond product issues to Meta’s treatment of those who speak up.
“On July 1, my office received a letter alleging that Meta ‘recently terminated two anonymous whistleblowers following their cooperation with Senator Grassley’s office and the Senate Judiciary Committee, in furtherance of [the] Committee’s oversight mission.’ The disclosure notes that each whistleblower ‘consistently received exemplary performance evaluations during their time at the Company.’ If you disagree, please let me know,” Grassley wrote.
The senator said he was concerned.
As the Co-Chairman of the Senate’s Whistleblower Protection Caucus, Grassley is concerned about the allegations his office received of Meta’s alleged continued retaliation of whistleblowers.
Grassley has also taken issue with how Meta has handled another whistleblower entirely.
Ex-staffer Sarah Wynn-Williams came forward with reports of the tech corporation’s uncanny ties to China, violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and practices targeting vulnerable teenagers during her testimony at a Senate hearing. Wynn-Williams also alleged her severance agreement violated the Securities Exchange Commission’s (SEC) regulation by restricting her from claiming any monetary reward for reporting illegal conduct.
“According to Ms. Wynn-Williams’ disclosures, Meta has sought to silence her by seeking to collect $50,000 per disparaging statement against the company,” Grassley wrote to Zuckerberg.
In the viral moment that sparked recent scrutiny, Felker’s role at Meta made his actions particularly striking to observers.
What propelled the story far beyond a single Manhattan arraignment was Felker’s employer and role. A Meta engineering manager whose own profile boasted of building digital experiences for children now faces criminal charges over explicit messages he allegedly sent to someone he believed was a 13-year-old girl.
The outlet reports that Felker first made contact with the decoy account in May and had been messaging it regularly ever since. Throughout their chats, he allegedly tried to teach the girl how to masturbate and sent multiple lewd photos and videos of himself. He also reportedly attempted to set up an in-person meeting with her.
In the video, the group approached Felker, who is married and has a small child, outside his apartment in New York City on Wednesday, July 15. He told the group that he didn’t want to speak inside because his mother-in-law was visiting and he didn’t want her to learn of his infidelity.
Mike Villani of Predator Poachers Long Island laid out how the group trapped Felker.
“One of our decoys who does the posing as a minor went on 4chan after we got a tip, which isn’t typically the route that we go with this,” Villani told Pavlich.
The conversations between Felker and the “13-year-old girl” moved to the online platform Discord in May. There, they could connect via voice and video calls, and text messaging, which is where Villani said it got sexual.
Villani also spoke about the broader scope of predator activity online.
“Unfortunately, every single app, every platform online,” he said. “It’s like all these guys are just going to use it to try to find these kids and do whatever they can to exploit them to whatever selfish want that they have.”
Over the last 18 months, Predator Poachers has nabbed 138 suspects across 16 states.
He pleaded not guilty and will be back in court in September.