Man I know caught in paedophile vigilante sting

[lolaflores]

a video went up on FB of a person being confronted by paedophile hunters. It was in the town I grew up in.
A friend posted it and she told me to watch carefully.
So the man is pictured and hey presto...i went to school with him.
Very very shocked.
But.
I knew him as a lad that was of a very high IQ but low social functioning if that makes sense. He hung out with us all, we all looked out for him, accepted him as he was and we all muddled along together.
The paedophile hunters set up a convo with him and a girl aged 15, which was one of them.
Then a date was aranged for them to meet and he is caught on film.
Cops are called
I don't know if they turned up or if charges have been brought.
I don't know what to think really.
He lives independently but his life isn't an average, adult life.
I cant defend him, I know..but he lacks something
Any thoughts on this as I feel in a very grey area

thing is paedophiles dont wear a label and can be your ndn the person you went to school with or that nice man down the shop.

Yes. A paedophile can be anyone but it doesn't take just anyone to identify them and get justice for their victims.
I have a friend who was abused by one of those lovely men who everyone loved. And she wasnt the only one and he is still walking the streets because he operated in a very careful and clever way picking g the right victims and keeping himself out if sight.
This man is so odd, so uncomfortable and weird that it would be an easy job to say, classic perv. Put it all over FB and call it a day. Mission accomplished.

These paedophile hunting groups are downright dangerous. They dress up and act as if they have some official capacity, think they can get away with anything as long as they keep on repeating "sir" at the end of every sentence and are usually as thick as 2 short planks.
I know for a fact that a member of one of these groups who regularly appear on social media is just one step away from being as bad as the alleged offender.
I feel sorry for the families whose lives are ruined due to their son,father etc being identified before even getting to court.

It's not clear what you're trying to say in your last post, OP.

Leaving aside the danger of mistaken identity, vigilante groups risk compromising genuine police investigations because they don't adhere to the rules of evidence, and if something's been plastered all over social media it's very easy for defence lawyers to argue that a fair trial is no longer possible.

Your example of the clever and plausible man who has still evaded justice - someone like that would be unlikely to fall for an internet sting.

This man is so odd, so uncomfortable and weird that it would be an easy job to say, classic perv. Put it all over FB and call it a day. Mission accomplished.

That sort of attitude, frankly, terrifies me. If you ever get the chance, watch the documentary 'The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies' - he wasn't accused of being a paedophile, but of being a murderer - the popular press condemned this man on the basis that he looked a bit unusual and his lifestyle didn't match what they chose to think of as normal - he was completely innocent. Yet until they found the true murderer, the man was hounded night and day.

LennyBelardo

So you are grateful that someone has spread life changing rumours about someone that you don't know and never had anything to do with.

police are useless half the time and we wouldn’t need them if they were more proactive on stopping these sickos

So maybe get of your arse and start petitioning your MP about police funding cuts?

Often police being “useless” translates to “not plastering their investigation over facebook”. As pp said public investigations compromise a fair trial (c.f. Our Tommeh) so vigilante groups can undo hours of police work in a 10 minute facebook live.

How do you know your local person is guilty with only a facebook video to go on? If someone came to your door and accused you of something that’s you guilty then, or would you prefer a legal team and an unbiased investigation?

If a team came to your do and accused your son like they did that 13 year old in Wales? There are people that believe he is guilty, and are still spreading over social media that at least he can get help now. It wasn’t him they were talking to online!

One of the problems with these groups is that they tend to catch out people who aren't neurotypical. So adults on the spectrum or with learning difficulties are ambushed by a mob, and social services end up picking up the pieces.

@LennyBelardo let's hope that you or someone you love are never wrongly accused of anything.

The vigilante groups could handle things the correct way if they really are committed to the cause. But where's the fun in that if they're not getting hailed on social media?

This man is definitely on the spectrum but of a generation that meant he did not get a diagnosis at an earlier age but has to live as best he can. And most unlikely to seek any help and either are his parents.

He lives in a small town and this sort of video would destroy him, never to recover. Sort of thing that would be attached to his name for generations, I.e ah yea. The uncle was a paedophile..cos there was a video on FB.
If he is a potential threat, there's nothing can be proved at this point.

It he is on the autistic spectrum and that's a big IF (which can only be diagnosed by professionals) than that would make him even more vulnerable to these idiots , they often target vulnerable people.

Agree, a big IF. Interestingly, i was talking to a friend who tells me
thisbgroup have targeted another man with diagnosed learning difficulties prior to this. He was not autustic but was SEN.
There didn't seem to be any charges on the back of that video that I can find anyway

I think they need to outlaw this type of behaviour. As much as I would like paedophiles to be identified and prosecuted, I don't think this is the way to go about it. There is too high a risk of innocent people being wrongly identified and people with sen etc. being targeted after having been set up.