Paedophile Hunters

puffin I'm not sure it was planned but having said it, it makes good tv, showing a dark and complex character.

I would guess the police don't want to work with him because he is not part of their organisation with their expectation of training etc. and he might do something very wrong which would come back on them. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of individual police officers have no problems with what he is doing though. It's an interesting development in law enforcement where individuals have the tools to catch criminals more effectively than the police.

There is entrapment used in these stings though however this is not a defence under English law. If the child is not real, the offence is an attempt.

Not sure if that is an offence, but going to meet the decoy with the explicit purpose of having sex with them surely is.

Then why not have him doing a piece to camera about that then? The whole 'I could beat my dog' speech was weird.

I can't see a problem with what he's doing. I understand why the Police can't do more, due to financial constraints, but I don't understand why they don't work with people like Hunter as part of a range of things they are doing. From reading the conversations on his website, there is no entrapment used, the decoys ages are given within the first couple of messages, no photos of an explicit nature are sent by the decoys. the voices used are from women over the age of consent who are aware of what's going on.

If the Police worked with people like him instead of against them, then there could be no conflict of interests, and more of these men could be caught.

I think the dog bit was to show how he was affected by being left by his parents and having to go in to care. I think it was to show his mistrust of people, that they will leave him, but his dog never will.

I'm watching it now on OD. I have absolutely no clue why they included that bit about the dog in it. It's so incongruous with the rest of the programme. I'll be back when I've stopped feeling sick.

I don't really know what to think about the comment you refer to and many other aspects of the program.

What I was left with, was that here we have a troubled young man and his young "helpers" trying to do what they think is right and for a greater good though may not actually be quite on the right path.

If this program had been about a middle aged couple in a detached house in the suburbs with a good education with filing cabinets full of paper work and the backing of the local mp. If that were the case these people would be held up as heros.

You can read a pretty good report about it in the Guardian:
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/oct/02/the-paedophile-hunter-review-dark-and-disturbing?google_editors_picks=true

How awful. I don't pretend to know what is in the mind of someone like this, but I think you might be on to something. 'Unconditional love' is one of those phrases that is bandied about a lot these days in a culture that seems slightly obsessed with pop-psychology. For me, it's right up there with 'believing in yourself' and 'feeling the fear but doing it anyway.' Is there really such a thing as unconditional love? Even if my children, who I think I love unconditionally, did something completely unacceptable (such as beating a woman within an inch of her life, to use your quote), I don't think I could still love them.

I think that love relies on and is linked to respect and that is where the responsiblity element comes into it. As you say, unconditional love implies a lack of responsibility for making a relationship work just as 'believing in yourself' implies a lack of respnsibility for taking on the onus of hard work or effort in any endeavour.

Such phrases also cleverly have an in-built victim blaming message. What, you didn't get your promotion? Nothing to do with your poor level of education, working-class background, recent maternity leave or whatever - you just didn't believe in yourself! What, your husband is abusing you? Nothing to do with his controlling, horrible behaviour - you just haven't offered him unconditional love! Of course, there is no sugestion of the priviledged side having to play this game (and therefore take responsibility), thus corprorate banks do not have to 'just believe' in low-paid, disadvantaged workers and abusive men do not have to offer 'unconditional love.'