Publically outing a sex offender / peadophile on social media

[rosegoldivy]

This morning DH said to me he had seen something on Facebook that had stated that a sex offender / paedophile had moved into an address a few streets away from us. I asked how he knew this and he said that something had been shared on facebook. He openly joked about how people would be going round to have a word with the guy and said it seemed from comments that it looked like his door had already been kicked in by angry residents.

I went on to facebook to have a nosey (obviously) and found the post he was talking about.

It was from one of those vigilante groups and they had named and shamed the individual, given details of his past crime (molested a child several years ago when he was 15) and gave his full address. From reading the comments on the post it was clear his door had been vandalised and kicked in then further down in the comments it came out that the address that was publically outed was not his address but actually a member of his family’s address and that young children live there. The sex offender actually lives in a town nearby but had been visiting. (why he had been visiting a house with young kids after his past I don’t understand)

So my AIBU is more that I don’t think the vigilante group should have shared a full address on social media without knowing all the details. Yes named the street so residents were aware but giving out the full address I think is a bit much especially in this case when the sex offender doesn’t live there and in fact there is a family living there who have now been subject to violence.

Thoughts?

@81Byerly totally agree with you thats what i was meaning by the thought of being on the fence and that i probably would rather not know.

its just a horrible reality that these people could be out there in close contact and interacting with our children without our knowledge.

@PlinkPlink I still don't think vigilante justice is the way to go though This. 100%.

How do you know they got his crime correct? Given they couldn’t even get his address right...

I have zero sympathy for paedophiles but absolutely despise vigilantes. As others have said, they actually interfere with the course of justice, and often get it wrong.

For example: Police may have spent months building a careful case against A, B, and C; and are moving closer to identifying D, who they believe is a social worker abusing his position to gain access to vulnerable children in care. Suddenly, B gets confronted on a fb live stream. A and C immediately destroy all evidence they have, and D gets away Scot free, able to continue his direct abuse of children.

Exactly dyme that's why vigilante groups anger me so much, we all (should) feel the same way as them but we know that it can leave predators free and clear to offend and untouchable due to their previous harassment.

The problem as I see it imo is in part the justice system. Small sentences and regular repeat offending which also lead to small sentences with no regard to the previous convictions has made many people angry that there is nothing done to protect the public (children being the victim group that generally causes the most vitriolic response) that has then led to "groups" deciding to operate out with the law and doing that screwing the system for everyone.

And no support or provisions in place for survivors to heal and recover which leaves broken or vulnerable adults to further abuse or some unable to protect future children

If we as a society and government and the tech companies were in on it too all took responsibility to work make this a country where sex offenders found it hard to offend (while still being physically safe) and if they did offend the justice system slammed them. Then made it a priority to properly and robustly supervise them then the number of victims would reduce and the victims that there was (because we will never fully stamp it out) were able to come forward quickly and given the appropriate support straight away then there wouldn't be nearly as many issues as we have now.

Sorry Iv missed some grammar and words in my anger

We recently had a case if a taxi driver sexually assaulting 3 different young women, he is on bail awaiting sentence, his street name printed in the paper, he got hassle moved, yesterday his new address was all over Facebook.
I feel for his children.

These groups are just awful they dont check facts and they put innocent lives at risk. A memeber of my immediate family was convicted of sexual offenses against children. Someone posted details on FB with the address. The address they posted was acually another family members and the home of one of the victims.

That's another good point Emerald

When I was doing my teacher training in Falmouth there was a paedophile ring that got exposed. One of the men involved, with less serious (but still serious) crimes like accessing and storing images, had his name and street name printed in the local paper.

The result was his son and daughter (who quite clearly could not deny he was their father because if that article) were ostracized and bullied. Particularly the son who was 15 - he got bullied mercilessly by the lads in his class. It was an awful situation - he was such a lovely boy but being constantly reminded of his dad's crimes made him so angry and lash out. I have no doubt it did untold damage to him, mentally.

MyGast The Paedo / paediatrician incident is not an urban myth. It did get blown into a 'mob' but the original vandalism, and the woman choosing to move house as a result is accurate.

Report of incident: www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/aug/30/childprotection.society

Report of misreporting plus report of actual incident: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4719364.stm

So, exaggerated in some reports - but not actually in the way the PP here first cited it - but not an urban myth.

Whenever I hear things like this it reminds me of the vigilante group that attacked a Paediatrician because they didn't understand that word didn't mean Paedophile

To be quite honest...there will be hundreds of men on the sex register living near all of us. People massively underestimate how many there are, so uncovering one is a drop in the ocean anyway.

Vigilante groups are generally the creme de la creme, i.e. the thickest, hope they get locked e.

Honestly, myself I am quiet thankful for these groups, when and only when there is hard proof and the information is correct. Because of these groups a man who lived three doors down from my infants school was arrested for sexually exposing himself to a eight year old and then online communicating with a 9 year old. Because of this group doing what I think they call a ‘sting’ this man was imprisoned. I for one am one hundred percent fateful for this group. THREE DOORS DOWN FROM MY INFANTS SCHOOL, frightening doesn’t cover it. And I wholeheartedly disagree with anyone who tells me the person was ‘young’ or ‘mental unwell’. There is never an excuse for a vile sex act, ever!

Saying all of this, these groups should never release address until they have contacted the police with the evidence of any wrongdoing and even so not the door number. As a mother I would think I have a right to know if a predator lives near me, but certainly not by a group who have no evidence whatsoever and seem to be causing more harm then good. Definitely report this post to police and I would currently talk to OH about agreeing with violent knobs on an innocent household.

I’ve got to say whilst I appreciate people wanting to know that there is a sex offender living near their children...(I would!)

Haven't RTFT because I find these threads depressing.

But what I always say on these is that YOU DO live near a sex offender, probably lots of them. Most of them haven't been caught never mind outed. These vigilante groups give people a completely false sense of security. Somewhere around 1% of men are sexually attracted to children and more are rapists. Some definitely live near you. There may be one or even a few in your family or friend groups.

This is not about scaring people. It's about getting rid of the stupid 'stranger danger' idea. And the idea that outing people solves the issue. The vast majority of sex offenders don't get caught and convicted. The ones that do are unlucky.

My now adult son was accused of being a paedophile on social media. Until then he was hardworking, happy and responsible. This wrong accusation and the way he was treated by others who believed these lies, caused him to have a complete mental health breakdown - he lost his job, his girlfriend, his home, his sanity. This wrong accusation destroyed his life completely and he now lives in a homeless hostel with little hope of the future he once thought he would have.

Hate these vigilante groups and often feel they have an ulterior motive. If anything they probably jeopardise a lot of cases and leave children in danger from real peadophiles because of this. Leave it to the police.

A few people near where I live were 'caught' by aa vigilante group live streaming their front door confrontations on social media. Disgusting.

I also don't necessarily understand the people who would want to know if a sex offender lived on their street. Are they not just naturally being vigilant with their children anyway? What is it that they would do differently with this knowledge?

My default is to assume that there are bad people everywhere, and to be as cautious as I can. Isn't the proportion of women who are sexually assaulted in their lifetime something like 1/3?

The point is that the men who form vigilante groups are the same men who commit other crimes, including all kinds of sex crimes.

What better cover for a paedo than paedo-hunting?

Don't be fooled. Angry, violent, self-righteous men are never good for women and children.

I have seen a few of these posts on fb recently. People baying for blood in the street. Smashing windows (the guys kids were in the house). Being totally honest all the people I know on these posts are absolute scumbags themselves. Knuckle dragging, unemployed for life, lazy wasters. They drag their kids along thinking they are cool being part of the gang. The kids repeat what their parents are shouting. It's absolutely vile. The funny part of it all was the person who started it all ended up being cautioned for inciting violence (female, she had made up that he followed her daughter & posted it online where you could clearly see he was shouting for his dogs to get in). These idiots don't realise we are surrounded by paedophiles. I am no paedo sympathiser believe me but let's just leave the work to the people with some brain cells.

There should be an official register and automatic letters sent out to prevent this from happening. It’s natural to want to protect the community from these kinds of people and if there is no official safeguarding system people start making best guesses.

Also he was 15 when he commited this crime. There's a big difference between molesting a child and having sex with a 14 year old for example. Who knows the context of the conviction?

@whoeabttoknow invade you hadn’t noticed a lot of parents in the UK don’t take particularly good care of their children. I’ve seen children young enough to be in nappies ‘playing out’. Notifying parents may help protect children that would others have been left to roam around on the street. Even more vigilante parents may be likely to double check their security and to avoid exposing their children (some people are very friendly with their neighbours).

*vigiblang

*vigilant

Vigilante groups and so called paedophile hunters are dickheads. They are in it for the glory and take no responsibility for the many instances when they are wrong. Also feel for the families in such cases who have to deal with the fallout and potential danger of their husband/dad whatever being exposed in this way.

I honestly think if they were committed to the cause they would turn the information over to the police but of course then they wouldn't get the likes and adoration of idiots on fb.

Thats absolutely disgusting.. evil and vindictive. I can resinate with this as it’s happened to someone very close to me. And its totally ruined their life. He was set upon one night by 5 individuals, he later outed them as cowards and then thats how they repaid him. Jobs , friendships and family relationships all ruined. Suicide attempts followed and now a shadow of themselves. One of the perps fathers is a local gangster and pushed the rumors far and wide. Intimidated people into joining the abuse. Im so sorry for you and your son ..😢🙏 reach out if you need to talk

VicTim01

Why on earth have you resurrected a thread that hadn't been updated since 2019????

I expect the OP has moved on in the 5 years.......