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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Paedophile (glory) hunters FB group/sting

70 replies

MyNewtMyFrogMyLittleRedDog · 17/03/2019 19:25

I am likely outing myself here to anybody that knows me but will try to be as clear as I can while being vague enough to protect my identity.

I had heard of the paedo hunters that pose as children, trap and ID the person that behaves inappropriately and then shares it on social media but thankfully never had anything to do with them. Then a few days ago I walked out of my house to get into the car with my kids and a group of people were circled around my next door neighbour n the front. I was not concerned, until I saw (my other side) the neighbours waving frantically at me. A woman then breaks away from the circle around my neighbour, approaches me and insists very loudly that I had to move the children as a paedophile was being confronted and they did not want them to hear. Needless to say I bundled the kids in the car and called my sister in a panic. She replied " Oh shit, I was watching that live on FB and knew I recognised him".

Now this is massively worrying me. It is bad enough that my neighbour has been arrested for this but these "hunters" have been live screening footage of my house and the next door neighbours, insulting the local police and stirring up shit. The police have been all over the estate due to local vigilantes marching around. The houses are not clearly numbered, the estates overlap so the address they gave out could actually be confused for a whole other road, and I am petrified that somebody is going to try and get into my house or accost my children , my adult sons or my husband. Every time somebody walks past my heart is racing and I could honestly throttle the fucking group that think its ok to do this.

If they were responsible and wanted justice they would have just handed the information to the police and not live streamed THREE videos showing two houses (one is mine, along with both our cars parked outside) . They even had the audacity to complain that the police had told them to stop live streaming as they could compromise any further investigations. Surely this is almost as bad as the shit head vigilantes that are patrolling the streets looking for somebody to beat up?

OP posts:

recrudescence · 18/03/2019 09:28

I agree strongly with pps who have expressed serious doubts about the motives and methods of these people. However, the situation would be greatly helped if the police had sufficient resources to conduct these investigations themselves.

EntirelyAnonymised · 18/03/2019 09:35

I hate this sort of vigilantism. It isn’t about ‘protecting the vulnerable’, it’s about power, being a hero and the adrenaline rush. I agree with those who say it poses more risks and creates more problems than it ever solves.

SuchAToDo · 18/03/2019 10:16

Op if I was you I'd talk to police about your concerns about safety of you, your husband, kids, vehicles and home...this group has put you all in danger if some idiot decides to do something and through mistaken identity targets you/your family/your home/your vehicle's...

I agree with other posters about the groups being all for the likes and glory...

They don't care about people like you who could get caught up in their vigilante hunts..and also they don't seem to give a damn about the poor victims...if they did they wouldn't out it all online, they would do what other posters have said and give it to police...

Op speak to police about your safety concerns, and keep posting here so others more knowledgeable may be able to help you...

Gilead · 18/03/2019 10:50

Where I used to live a man with learning difficulties committed suicide thanks to these idiots. He was perfectly innocent and had just thought he'd made a friend. He was in his forties but had a functioning age of ten. They should leave things to the police.

GruciusMalfoy · 18/03/2019 11:03

These people are the type you'd cross the street to avoid, and they're putting innocent people in danger. If they were really doing what they did for anything other than internet glory, they would give all info to the police, rather than sensationalising it by live streaming videos. Their "fans" seen to be people with even less sense than them.

Original poster

MyNewtMyFrogMyLittleRedDog · 18/03/2019 12:33

I have spoken to the police, popped into the local station and they have just said to call the non emergency number if anything happens. So I came home and my car has been keyed, a thick scratch down one side across the wing, both doors and back bit . The neighbours cars are older than mine, mine is only 2 years and now my insurance is going to be screwed. It has not gone all the way down to the metal and is white underneath so I have just bought some Tcut to try and cover it and parked it 6 doors down on a friends empty driveway. My son is parking his car on the next close until all this blows over.

OP posts:

AhhhHereItGoes · 18/03/2019 13:13

I think these people are deliberately goody and in wanting to make the streets safe they make them less safe.

There is a type who is in these groups and they often have no filter, no social boundaries and lack basic logic.

By all means report someone who is behaving inappropriately but deliberately goading a paedophile to offend, them dragging their family and neighbours into it, not to mention any employers they have?

Should be a law against it. Leave it to those who know what they are doing.

AhhhHereItGoes · 18/03/2019 13:20

Sorry just seen update.

I'd tell whoever live streamed it to pay for repairs as it's their fault it happened.

UK version of red knocks.

AuntieCJ · 18/03/2019 13:24

These awful people are every bit as disturbed as the people they say they are hunting.

Something really weird about adults pretending to be kids on line whatever the reason.

VampirateQueen · 18/03/2019 13:26

Hopefully it will all die down soon, but in the meantime can you afford to get a CCTV camera to put outside your house?

SuziQ10 · 18/03/2019 13:46

Wouldn't you rather be aware that there's a pedophile living close by?
They might not act completely appropriately when they snare someone, but chances are this man WAS trying to engage in messaging and meeting up with someone they believed to be a child.
How else would the hunters get the address?
I don't agree with vigilantes but I also recognise that it's frustrating the there are pedophiles going unvetted, ready to meet with kids. Often even when caught by the police they don't get a proper sentence / their identities are not put forward to the public. I would prefer to know if I'm living in close proximity to someone dangerous.

AhhhHereItGoes · 18/03/2019 13:46

Exactly @AuntieCJ it's almost like it excites them?

#doublestandards

Damntheman · 18/03/2019 13:51

I'm pretty sure vigilante mob-mentality is not going to accurately tell you if there's a pedophile living nearby anyway. Who knows what they'll jump at to make some kind of leap of conclusion to support a suspicion?

Vigilantes are absolute dickwads, OP I'm so sorry you're going through this!

thecatsarecrazy · 18/03/2019 14:01

This is why i hate these. If they have information fine take it to the police let them deal with it. Shouting nonce and filming the whole thing and the neighbors houses for likes on f.b is out of order.

WhoWants2Know · 18/03/2019 14:08

I agree with a lot of the posters above. When you've seen the way it affects the wives, children and neighbours who are confronted in this way, it's difficult to have respect for the motives and methods of the people who do the confronting and posting on Facebook.

Don't I want to know if there's a paedophile next door? Not if that's how it's done. I'd rather practice due caution towards everyone and let trained police do their job.

M3lon · 18/03/2019 14:20

wtaf. How is this even a thing? Idiots.

Littlecaf · 18/03/2019 14:30

I would be seeking legal advice about the vigilantes who have caused upset and harm to you. And keep reporting to the police non emergency number.

These type of people are batshit.

TheQueef · 18/03/2019 14:43

I was convinced for all the reasons above that these groups were a terrible idea.

Then I found out that half the cases of this abuse used paedo hunter evidence.

If half the prosecuted cases rely on hunter evidence then they are obviously serving a purpose.
Some hunter groups are better than others.

FunkyKingston · 18/03/2019 16:29

Then I found out that half the cases of this abuse used paedo hunter evidence.

According to whom, the so called paedo hunters themselves, it is a bit like psychics claiming to have solved cases and helped the police but the evidence is never there to back it up.

Given the tactics they use it is hard to see how their actions don't constitute entrapment or hoe it can meet the standards to be used in court. Therefore they may jeopardise the work of professionals.

Gilead · 18/03/2019 16:50

Then I found out that half the cases of this abuse used paedo hunter evidence.
Asked barrister brother about this. He called bullshit. Non admissible evidence if it's a set up.

TheQueef · 18/03/2019 17:27

It's in the BBC documentary mentioned upthread.

TheQueef · 18/03/2019 17:32

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06y70fs

Nicknacky · 18/03/2019 17:35

I’m a detective and deal a lot with sexual offences. Vigilante cases are a very small part of our workload and certainly don’t make up the majority of our convictions.

BoneyBackJefferson · 18/03/2019 18:09

FunkyKingston
No they're more like the snakey little fucks who'd wind someone, fan the flames of an existing falling out and up or and sit back and watch the drama unfold. Then shrug their shoulders and weasel their way out of any responsibilities.

They've not even got the nerve to be proper vigilantes, they act as judge and jury, plaster it all over the internet and hope some meatheat pours petrol through their letterbox or whatever. All for a vicarious thrill.

I agree but what you have described is bullying, underhand, sneaky, subversive bullying, the type that doesn't leave physical bruises but leaves the mental ones that causes people to take their own lives.

And as pp have said I think that they get off on it.

elasticfantastic · 18/03/2019 18:12

These groups are awful. If they actually gave a shit about justice rather than their egos, they wouldn't confront the people , they would just hand the evidence over to police. They certainly wouldn't film the confrontation and put it on social media before there has been a court trial.

They have no consideration for consequences, as OP has unfortunately discovered. If I was OP I'd be putting the fuck up and the consequences OP has had all over social media.. local spotted groups etc, to let people know that they are getting misplaced abuse and let people know how the hunter group don't give a shit about the effect on OP now they had their glory moment.

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