Vigilante Groups Catching Sexual Predators

I'm sure some of you will have seen the videos or heard the news stories, members of the public fooling sexual predators into thinking they are talking to a minor then confronting them and using the evidence to get them convicted in court. For example Stinson Hunter.

This group, as an example, seem to be catching people in South London, all local places to me.

https://www.facebook.com/1738447799716910/videos/1750973041797719

I'm torn between good job and maybe they shouldn't be doing it as they aren't police, but also because some might try to imitate and it not end well.

I was wondering what everyone else's thought are on this?

(Tried to avoid saying paedo so this sounded less like an article from The Sun)

I guess one issue is that a good lawyer could potentially argue that any evidence gathered by a vigilante group isn't admissible in court as it was obtained, potentially, illegally and didn't follow the legal requirements for evidence gathering. If that happens then the person they've caught has basically been alerted to the vigilante methods and is only going to be even more careful in future.

And then of course there's the very real, and probably quite likely, possibility of a situation escalating to violence or worse, from both sides.

In theory, yeah, great that some people are helping to get these people off the streets and easing the pressure on the police. But in practice, vigilante justice like this just doesn't work and there's far too much potential for anything and everything to go catastrophically wrong.

I can't condone what they're doing.

However, if their actions deter potential grooming from taking place, then a young kid could be saved.

It's a very conflicting issue.

Unless it is Batman I think vigilante groups are dangerous. Everyone deserves a proper trial to establish innocence or guilt, no mob rule that thinks "no smoke without fire" or that mixes up a paedophile with a paediatrician.

Define: Entrapment

Vigilante action like this should be discouraged, as it acts contrary to the rule of law. Law enforcement requires both transparency and accountability to be acceptable, and must carry a mandate from the people, through democratic oversight. Independent vigilante groups fall short on all three points.

Moggy wrote:Unless it is Batman I think vigilante groups are dangerous. Everyone deserves a proper trial to establish innocence or guilt, no mob rule that thinks "no smoke without fire" or that mixes up a paedophile with a paediatrician.

This.

Vigilantes might have good intentions but all too often end up causing far more harm than good, better to let the police and the courts do things legally and fairly.

bigcheez2k3 wrote:I'm sure some of you will have seen the videos or heard the news stories, members of the public fooling sexual predators into thinking they are talking to a minor then confronting them and using the evidence to get them convicted in court. For example Stinson Hunter.

This group, as an example, seem to be catching people in South London, all local places to me.

https://www.facebook.com/1738447799716910/videos/1750973041797719

I'm torn between good job and maybe they shouldn't be doing it as they aren't police, but also because some might try to imitate and it not end well.

I was wondering what everyone else's thought are on this?

(Tried to avoid saying paedo so this sounded less like an article from The Sun)

I'm not convinced that a guy in his early 20s deserves that amount of trauma for intending to have sex with a 15 year old. The only way that could be justified is if it prevents a sufficient amount of suffering by deterring other potential sex offenders.

Vigilante Groups Catching Sexual Predators

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