“Paedophile hunters”

I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out some of these 'heroic' hunters are paedophiles themselves!

I think they fill a void being left by police; if the police did more of this and caught a lot more of these people, then the groups wouldn't exist. Given that they are going to do it, ideally, there would be some training, but that would be hugely problematic. Apart from funding the police properly, I'm not sure how they can be stopped.

That didn’t occur to me but you’re
probably correct that they’re monetising it. So much worse imo.

Not a popular idea among many parents, and not to condone the behaviour of these men. But ensuring your child isn't coming into contact with them is the parents responsibility. Stop using the internet as a surrogate babysitter.

More than one case out there of a so called pedophile hunter being convicted of pedophilia.

Makes sense really, an adult who’s obsessed with pedophiles, spends time in chat rooms pretending to be a child. Gives them an excuse to be in possession of awful images as bait.

And this is what it boils down to. If they are that invested in doing this then fine, hand the evidence over to the police. It goes on Facebook because they want the glory. They want other knuckle heads telling how great they are and thanking them for their public service. They are thick, often unskilled and just want to feel important. These are not the sort of people who should be dishing out ‘justice’ of any kind.

Yet some of them just turn up at the house?

I read an article a year or so ago about the rise in paedophilia possibly linked to porn use - men needing more extreme porn to satisfy as they get desensitised to other stuff. Porn is a big problem, but men seem to like it so no checks and measures are put in place.

Majority I have seen have been aggressive in nature. Carried out very questionable citizens arrests. Have only called the police after a period of time broadcasting the accused persons face all over the internet.

With the feelings towards this sort of crime, No way should a person be exposed prior to even being charged. Imagine you yourself were accosted and were totally innocent? Is that OK you being colateral damage?

What's the outcome for children who are engaging with these adults who are not aware they shouldn't be friends with children?

If not sexual activities, presumably the children are still being exposed to harmful/adult content of some variety? How do you protect these children from this exposure?

Not sure….money? They must earn a small fortune on til tok

all that travelling must cost a fair bit

I think I saw the same programme
It must be awful to have those thoughts when you are desperate not to act on them

I saw a video where the person they met was actually a child 🤦‍♀️ they had effectively groomed him (no idea why/who posted it but it looked like a bystander).

On one hand, I can see why they do it. The police are woefully inadequate at catching predators. On the other, they are normal (sometimes stupid) people who don't have the training to do the job they've given themselves.

Adults who are mentally younger can still have sexual urges. I’m not saying it’s right at all, but I can understand why an adult who is mentally disabled might relate more to a younger pre teen/teenager and still have the same sexual urges that would be expected of a teen/adult, so in some cases I see how it happens where the conversation turns sexual, and how some of these people may not realise the implications of their behaviour.

I remember watching a couple of them and the perpetrators were quite clearly childlike (despite being chronologically about 40), mentally delayed and distressed at being confronted. I think these people really need to monitored more closely online and have consequences explained to them.

I’m on the fence. I see your point totally. But I also think when the evidence has been there for a long time and police are taking too long to make arrests, courts are too long to come to trial how many more kids are getting abused while they get their evidence that at times is staring them in the face . I get all the issues all the services are faced with I really but it’s not good enough. Children need protected and these vigilant groups some will show evidence of reporting the nonce to police and police not acting on it at all. So I see why the feel they need to sort it themselves too. Think if it was your child being targeted, you would want immediate action.

It’s still considered grooming as the child is underage even if it’s not dirty chat

Right, ok, but why does it have to end up on social media? The answer is, it doesn’t. They do that because they’re nothing more than attention seekers with too much time on their hands. They could film the meet up and hand all their evidence over to the police rather than make it public.

Oh please! Such ignorance about learning disability on this thread. They may not understand what they aresaying but have seen it elsewhere, they may not understand that one number is bigger than another and that means the person is older/younger.
No one is saying disabled people should get away with grooming or abusing children.

I’m not sure who you have watched but certainly doesn’t sound like the group I watch. They have already alerted the police before they knock the door. They hand all the evidence they have over to the police as soon as the police arrive. None of their faces or identities are revealed on camera. They take special care not to make a big public show of what they are doing so the person they are speaking to are kept as safe as possible. But at the end of the day these monsters deserve everything they get. The young lives that have been ruined by these men is more than you and I can comprehend.

Lots of cases where it is absolutely clear that older party is at fault. This is one of the oldest excuses “she did not look 14”. Men who are adults are expected to work it out. Not this kind of excuse

Ultimately, claiming any sort of condition as a defence to a crime generally won’t wash. Prisons have lots of people who identify as ND. They get the same sentence as a NT counterpart and that’s right, IMO. The victim of whatever crime has been committed isn’t less affected because of the perpetrator’s medical history.

If you know right from wrong, are capable of forming and maintaining a secretive and abusive relationship and can take steps to stay under the radar (thus showing you know you’re doing something wrong), then no claims of any condition should be allowed in mitigation.

I don’t think the vigilantes care about children. They like violence and a feeling of power, being the big I am etc, plus I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them need their own hard drives looking at tbh.

The lack of reading comprehension on this thread is a good example of why vigilante justice is problematic

Posters who are jumping straight to "well if they say sexual stuff" when it was clearly stated it was about non sexual talk, reading "he talked about sexual fantasies" with no elaboration to be "he fancies children" etc