A NEW York news anchor has been busted by a paedophile hunting group attempting to meet a young boy for sex, US media reports. 

Zach Wheeler, a U.S. local NBC news anchor was allegedly at the scene to meet with what he thought was a 15-year-old boy.

The vigilante 607 Predator Hunters group posted the video to YouTube and it shows Wheeler at a store in an attempt to meet with the underaged boy.

Fox News reported that when he was confronted by the peado hunting group, he initially attempts to deny that he was at the location to meet or have sex with the teenager, instead insisting multiple times he was only there to “talk” to the kid and warn him to get “off of these apps.”

But when the group doesn’t appear to buy Wheeler’s excuse, he pivots to a more combative tone.

“Why do you guys do this to gay and lesbian people,” he asks, with the group insisting they attempt to catch all pedophiles.

“Are you guys here to ruin people’s lives,” Wheeler asks at another point, noting that the group was going to “ruin my whole entire life” and he is “going to lose my job and everything.” At another point, Wheeler argues that the group is engaging in “cancel culture” because of his job.

Wheeler then asks the group if they “need money” and also offers to help them get their organization on TV.

WETM posted a statement to their Facebook page Sunday acknowledging they were aware of the incident.

“WETM has been made aware of a video posted to YouTube regarding one of our employees,” the statement said. “The local group that posted the video claims that the employee engaged in inappropriate behavior. WETM management is looking into the questions raised by the video, and the employee will remain off the air until the situation is resolved. No charges have been filed in connection with the video.”

Wheeler is no longer listed on the “Meet the Team” section of the WETM website.

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