Ariel Winter Joins Undercover Sting to Catch Child Predator in Oklahoma City

Ariel Winter, best known for her role as Alex Dunphy on Modern Family, has utilized her acting skills to go undercover as a 12-year-old girl in a sting operation targeting online child predators. Partnering with the nonprofit Safe from Online Sex Abuse (SOSA), Winter participated in a true crime docuseries called SOSA Undercover, where she confronted a 31-year-old predator in Oklahoma City via FaceTime while maintaining a childlike persona. Winter revealed that the experience was both cathartic and frightening, driven by her own past experiences with grooming and abuse in the entertainment industry. She emphasized the danger posed by seemingly ordinary men—often married and with families—who use false identities to exploit vulnerable children through social media and gaming platforms. The actress highlighted the difficulty in identifying predators due to their deceptive tactics and the importance of protecting young girls who may seek companionship online but fall prey to such individuals. Winter's work with SOSA underscores a broader effort to combat online sexual exploitation by collaborating with law enforcement to research, identify, and apprehend predators.