“Paedophile hunters”

[Yellowdaffodilss]

I remember quite a few years ago now, these paedophile hunter’s started appearing on social media. Videos of them meeting people who had been talking to what they believed were underage children. I remember thinking , oh wow they’re out there protecting our children. Maybe a naive view , I don’t know.

But now , more and more , I see it becoming a regular thing and I am seeing time and time again that the so called predators they catch ( not all the time, there are times that they are grown adults knowing what they’re doing ) are very clearly people with additional needs / autism. I find it disturbing to watch - I have seen young adults panicking and not really knowing what they’re doing or the implications . It’s clear that the messages in the videos I have seen are between the “ culprit” and an ‘underage child’ discussing meeting up , when yes they have been clear they are underage but it is also clear that it has not been sexual talk and these people are not understanding that what they are doing is wrong.

I remember years ago my sister and her friend talking to a lad of around 19. My sister and her friend were chatting and asking if the lad liked the friend and he was inviting them around to his house for a sleepover and to watch movies. ( my sister told my mom as she was worried ) I went through all the messages and could see it was not sexual . This lad thought they were friends . I looked at his profile and he was clearly autistic and his emotional and mental age was probably the same as my sister and her friend. I spoke to his mother who was so thankful that I messaged and confirmed he was quite severely autistic.

My son is autistic and always been drawn to girls as friends rather than boys . He also always gets on with those younger because he is on their level more. He wouldn’t even know how to talk sexually - he’s got a very limited understanding. I can’t stop him having a phone , he’s now 18 . Luckily I’m very aware and have spoken to him about this and keep tabs on him but it’s very hard. This kind of thing really worries me.

It makes me think whether these groups are doing more harm than good. They’re outing people publicly , and for those who are vulnerable with no understanding then it could do so much harm. I get that parents should be monitoring phone use but quite frankly not all parents do.

I do also wonder - can charges be made if there is no ‘real’ victim - it’s an adult they’re talking to … I guess it could get the culprits investigated more and maybe find out more things but other than that is it not just vigilante behaviour? And also , is their real good intention there from all of them or is it a case of getting social media famous ? Could it even be that they target those who they can see are more vulnerable as it will be an easy ‘catch’ ?

I get this but it depends what that talk was …

was it “ I have a fantasy to sleep with a 12 year old “ or “ I like to be called daddy “ - big difference

Lots of these groups have actually caught out and help put away or at least make the police have them on their radar quite a few people.

If an adult is trying to form relationship’s with a child they need checking out NT or not.

You don’t know who’s “innocently” wanting a friend and who’s a sexual predator and honestly a grown adult wanting to go out to find friends of 13 / 14 year old is creepy regardless.

Slightly different in my friend's case - it wasn't a 12 year old, either in fact or fiction!

How would those two get confused at all.

Call me daddy vs the other thing are two completely different types of chat.

Either way however wanting a child that’s not your child to call you daddy creepy. And the other thing abhorrent.

Agreed, completely detest these groups as they are not just doing it to try and protect children, always self interest there. They make me very uncomfortable and I do not watch them these days.

I don’t but I am assuming that the poster did not mean anything like “ I want to sleep with a 12 year old “ because that is illegal and they said it wasn’t.

Wanting a child to call you daddy is obviously wrong but what I mean is was it something like that but with a consenting adult but the comment was taken wrong as call me daddy implies talking to a child. Lots of men like to be called daddy by sexual partners. Not my thing to be honest , but it is a thing and I don’t think it implies paedophillia

All the ones I’ve seen have read back actual messages sent between the person and the decoy and quite often pictures they’ve sent of their willies and so forth, even if the other person is just having some fun or has mental problems they still believe they’re having dirty conversations or sending inappropriate pictures to children so I find it a bit worrying some of you think this should be hidden away! Being autistic or having developmental disorders does not make someone talk sexually to children BTW

In the case of the family “friend” no one was given any details until it came out in the news once convicted, and even then details were scarce.

So up until his second conviction many people were convinced he’d been the innocent victim of a stinger attack.

Any man having any relationship, fantasy or otherwise, with a child online is a predator. If the police were doing their jobs there’d be no room for vigilantes to do it for them - not saying I agree with them or think they’re great people, but they are catching paedophiles who would otherwise continue predating on children.

Op of it gets to the point they are turning up to meet the sex offender in person then it’s very likely they have a lot of evidence from previous chats and texts.

time to put away your rose tinted glasses, plenty of SN/Autustic adults get custodial sentences for this.

If they genuinely want to help catch paedophiles why film it and stream etc,
Everybody is entitled to a fair trial and streaming " the arrest" for all to see could do more harm than good
I also wonder how many of these hunters are actually paedophile themselves hiding behind vigilantism, within plain sight etc.

investigated yes , by professionals - not random people with a camera in their face traumatising them.

it is not creepy for someone with sn to think it’s ok to be friends and with a child - I mean that it doesn’t mean the individual is creepy. There are a lot of social groups for autistic people with a very wide age range - my son himself has friends who are girls and are 2 years younger than him. We made these friends when he was younger and are friends with the families . Had I not educated him then he may not have reason to think there is anything wrong because he would not understand why not when he already has them and he is not at a stage to think about relationships or sex. It would not make him creepy . What it would mean is he had been failed by those around him who haven’t educated him and have allowed him the means to form online friendships with underage children.

I also have an autistic son and yes some groups can have kids with a wide range of ages but I don't think two years is much at all

Op do you monitor your adult son’s phone? See it all?

The video I saw of a clearly autistic individual had all the chats discussed and displayed - there was nothing sexual . The “ child” had said their age and asked the young man his and he had replied , he had not pretended to be younger. The “child” had asked about a sleepover and the young person had suggested the cinema and talked about films to see. The hunters actually used this against him - the fact it was a child’s film he suggested - as though he was grooming the “child” when it was obvious to see that actually this young person probably really did want ti see this film as they were clearly emotionally and mentally younger.

It was absolutely disgusting and this young person was so overwhelmed , confused and downright petrified . I dread to think the damage it has caused him.

I both agree and disagree with aspects of these hunts and catches.
All of the ones I've seen involve the police and call the police as part of the catch.
There is a considerable percentage of those caught that are disabled and/or neurodiverse, that is definitely true, and some groups are more fierce than others with how they deal with the situation and potential disabilities/vulnerablities but, at least the ones I have seen talk about the chat logs.
It has to be said that some groups literally take the piss and tease the predators: they make them wear supposedly 'loser brand' coats and once I saw them dress up a predator in, I think a clown costume or something degrading.
I do NOT agree with that because it may well stop legal proceedings/stand up in court because it is underhand. That is the other end of the spectrum and the police will take it less seriously because of degrading content even when the paedophile has done wrong.
What you have to factor in is the very unfortunate reality that the police don't do enough to catch and incarcerate active paedophiles. It is very unfair, but the provision is patchy even though their acts hurt many.
There are police led teams that work to catch these people but it is not enough (I've watch documentaries on it.
If the hunters catch the paedophiles relatively professionally, I am mostly all for it
I wish the police did their bit, but they definitely do not, either due to lack of funding or staff etc.
I have been a victim of paedophilia in my family and it cuts so deep. It effects people for the rest of their lives, it can cause psychosis and flash backs (still have them), it causes suicidal action and thought.
I am luckily having intense therapy and it's working now after years of hard grit.
No one is paying for it but me and my disability benefit because my mental health and attention span don't allow me to work.
I nearly didn't leave my family out of fear, but I got help.... what if I hadn't?
I agree with a previous poster when she said about a neurodiverse person having friendly but non sexual chat with a minor possibly being misconstrued, but I have never seen that happen in the videos I've seen and even though they are social media based, I don't think that would happen. Chat logs are read out and analysed with confrontation, and there are people with learning disabilities that are held to account, but I think these predators are aware almost totally of what they are doing.
Some predator catchers explain to the camera that they will turn off the camera and not film in some circumstances or they will lower the camera and/or only film the audio, (I think this is the best option) some treat the predators as they would the average/less vulnerable.
If the police 'had the resources' and invested better in teams better trained to do so and revisited cases that were not thoroughly enough examined and more prison sentences were given, then I would probably not advocate for the paedophile hunters that the OP has referenced.
I wish the police did their duty and did more to ensure these nonces didn't re-offend.
There is unfortunately a strong likelihood that these people do it again and that is based on facts and figures.
The offenders need intervention and therapy but you can't force that on them even if they don't want to engage with it.
I will say, if I'm honest I like to see a genuine chold sexual predator confronted and intimidated. It pleases me a bit after what I've been through with my smarmy paedophilic parents who won't admit to the acts or the suffering they have caused my baby bro and I with their gaslighting and narcissistic abuse.

Yes I do , completely .

If that happened in the way you said it did, then that's very unfair and, of course unlawful.

"It’s clear that the messages in the videos I have seen are between the “ culprit” and an ‘underage child’ discussing meeting up , when yes they have been clear they are underage but it is also clear that it has not been sexual talk and these people are not understanding that what they are doing is wrong."

I guess I've seen about 8 or 9 of these videos in the last few years and every single one of them has involved the person talking sexually to what they believed was a child, and arranging to meet up for sex.

One thought he was meeting an 11 year old girl and he turned up with a pair of Hello Kitty knickers for her and a tube of lubrication.

I’m on the fence on this one, I’ve a half brother (who I’ve been nc with for several years), he was caught by these peadophile hunters, he’s getting on for nearly 60 and this “girl” was 14. The thing he was saying and wanting this girl to do was truly awful, he went to prison and served half of his sentence and rightly so, he also had young teenage daughters.
I’ve also seen people with learning difficulties who no clue what’s happening.
so I’m not sure on this one, they do take predators off the street.

Exactly like that, I promise you. It was heartbreaking.

I am not a sympathiser to real predators and I have enjoyed seeing real predators squirm in the past but this makes me think more about it and think differently .

You sure?

what about incognito? Private browser?? You won’t be able to see any of that or anything he deleted

'If they genuinely want to help catch paedophiles why film it and stream etc'
To deter more future paedophiles from doing yhe same.
Some of it may be a power trip, admittedly but of they are actual active paedophiles and they are genuinely helping/working/handing over evidence to the police.

Yabu if an adult is asking or sending sexual content to a child i don't care if the adult is ND. The police are underfunded if these groups get paedophiles of the street that's a good thing. We've had several in our area sent to prison thanks to these people

I'm not calling you a liar, but I'd be very surprised at the hunting group being vulnerable to prosecution (harassment) and public outcry.
This sometimes reaches more than one audience on social media and the observer on the screen may be defensive of people with neurodiversities that they may have in their family etc.

I can easily believe that someone like your son finds it easier to communicate with people who are younger and particularly girls and not all men have bad intentions or are predators.

That said, there are predators and for the sake of the children it would be better that they would not get used to communicating with people who are much older who they otherwise have no connection to, particularly males. However, even females could pose a risk.

There was a thread today about sleepovers and a lot of posters said they would not let their kids do it while young, because of the risk of predators. It's not worth the risk to the children and it's best not to make a habit of such things.