“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’ ?

Adults who are mentally younger can still have sexual urges. I’m not saying it’s right at all, but I can understand why an adult who is mentally disabled might relate more to a younger pre teen/teenager and still have the same sexual urges that would be expected of a teen/adult, so in some cases I see how it happens where the conversation turns sexual, and how some of these people may not realise the implications of their behaviour.

I remember watching a couple of them and the perpetrators were quite clearly childlike (despite being chronologically about 40), mentally delayed and distressed at being confronted. I think these people really need to monitored more closely online and have consequences explained to them.

I saw a video where the person they met was actually a child 🤦‍♀️ they had effectively groomed him (no idea why/who posted it but it looked like a bystander).

On one hand, I can see why they do it. The police are woefully inadequate at catching predators. On the other, they are normal (sometimes stupid) people who don't have the training to do the job they've given themselves.

I think I saw the same programme
It must be awful to have those thoughts when you are desperate not to act on them

Not sure….money? They must earn a small fortune on til tok

all that travelling must cost a fair bit

What's the outcome for children who are engaging with these adults who are not aware they shouldn't be friends with children?

If not sexual activities, presumably the children are still being exposed to harmful/adult content of some variety? How do you protect these children from this exposure?

Majority I have seen have been aggressive in nature. Carried out very questionable citizens arrests. Have only called the police after a period of time broadcasting the accused persons face all over the internet.

With the feelings towards this sort of crime, No way should a person be exposed prior to even being charged. Imagine you yourself were accosted and were totally innocent? Is that OK you being colateral damage?

I read an article a year or so ago about the rise in paedophilia possibly linked to porn use - men needing more extreme porn to satisfy as they get desensitised to other stuff. Porn is a big problem, but men seem to like it so no checks and measures are put in place.

Yet some of them just turn up at the house?

And this is what it boils down to. If they are that invested in doing this then fine, hand the evidence over to the police. It goes on Facebook because they want the glory. They want other knuckle heads telling how great they are and thanking them for their public service. They are thick, often unskilled and just want to feel important. These are not the sort of people who should be dishing out ‘justice’ of any kind.

More than one case out there of a so called pedophile hunter being convicted of pedophilia.

Makes sense really, an adult who’s obsessed with pedophiles, spends time in chat rooms pretending to be a child. Gives them an excuse to be in possession of awful images as bait.

Not a popular idea among many parents, and not to condone the behaviour of these men. But ensuring your child isn't coming into contact with them is the parents responsibility. Stop using the internet as a surrogate babysitter.

That didn’t occur to me but you’re
probably correct that they’re monetising it. So much worse imo.

I think they fill a void being left by police; if the police did more of this and caught a lot more of these people, then the groups wouldn't exist. Given that they are going to do it, ideally, there would be some training, but that would be hugely problematic. Apart from funding the police properly, I'm not sure how they can be stopped.

I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out some of these 'heroic' hunters are paedophiles themselves!

It will come down to capacity and wether they are able yo understand what they have done and why it's wrong
Objectively though If someone is able to seek out underage femle/ males on line and send sexually explicit messages they probably have enough capacity to understand it's wrong.

Some ND people have the mental age of a child, they may be older in terms of number for their age but they are on the same level intellectually.

There are groups where a 25 year old and a 14 year old might be together as the 25 year old is delayed

Also, how come these vigilantes have a lot of time to devote to this? Obviously not actively seeking employment 😕

I don’t think any of them use CSAM. Most get permission from the family of whoever’s photo they are borrowing. Most only recieve pictures of the groomer.

In reality, I suspect there will never be enough police resources worldwide to keep up with it. Which is why I have always said the onus must be on the parents to monitor what their kids are doing. Bring the online device into the family area. A child of 10 really does not need a phone at all, and removing smart phones from teenagers be all that bad for their all round health anyway.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-39305042

It was accepted here because multiple witnesses assumed the girl was overage, including police officers who spoke to her about a totally separate issue earlier that night and believed she was older, and a taxi driver who said he thought she was 20!

12 is very young though. I’d have thought this defence more likely if they’re only a couple of months underage.

Why a 21 year old would want to sleep with a 16 year old anyway I have no idea

My sons biological father was caught by them a few weeks ago. They didn't do a sting so there was no love stream. They informed the police and sent evidence and where to find him and the police arrested him 2 days later.

Although there was no sting they within hours of him being arrested put it on their socials. I absolutely despise him and am disgusted by him BUT these people knew he had a son, his Facebook profile picture was my son and they still posted all over the place and it was shared hundreds and hundreds of times. They had no consideration for my child at all. By all means share it but let the police inform the right agencies to inform his son and safe guard him. He's absolutely ruined my sons life and I'm glad he was caught as no child deserves the things he's sent and the way he's spoken to them but just another 24 hours at most I'd have had the call from social services and I'd have had the chance to get my child's photos removed from Facebook so when people are searching his name and tagging him my kids face wasn't being shared. Not even 24 hours they had to wait but they had no consideration for anyone but themselves and getting likes. There was very minimum contact between my ds and his absolutely vile excuse of a dad but everyone knows and then people.we don't actually know now know and have recognised my ds. All they had to do was wait 24 hours. As much as I appreciate them in someways I've had this side of it and have also seen it done to vulnerable young adults who were unaware of what talking to a child may do even though it wasn't sexually. They have no respect for anyone and I don't expect them to have respect for the actual real predators but families are just as shocked and disgusted and don't need to find out from a Facebook post. And I get it, people deserve to know. So do the families especially their autistic vulnerable teenage sons

A friend (Well,former friend....... it still hurts) was caught by some of these guys.

They lack nuance, but on the basis of what they exposed with him.... it needed to be done. The police weren't going to get him.

Full sympathy for anyone innocent falsely/incorrectly accused.

I'm pretty sure I've seen one story where these "hunters" physical attacked a supposed suspect to make him confess and it was the wrong man which is why he kept denying it

And one where they had initially claimed to be an 18 year old, had essentially pushed to get sexual conversation, had then "admitted" to being 14, the person pulled away from contact because they were underage and said to stop contacting him and they still turned up at his house claiming he was a peado

Yeah I'm not buying that ,we have four special schools in my LA ,two primary, two secondary,
Teens at the school for kids with moderate to severe learning disabilities, do have relationships ,sometimes with their peers but they are the like in all schools but they are of a similar age and cognitive.