The Pedophile Hunters

Heroes or dangerous vigilantes?

In the UK alone, there are over 90 pedophile hunters in operation.

These are individuals or groups who work voluntarily. They are self-funded, although some accept public donations to cover expenses. Many claim to be concerned parents, hoping to make their communities safer for children and families.

Their aim is simple: to stop and to prevent child sexual abuse.

Many achieve their goal by deterring sexual predators from contacting children online. They do this through active ‘decoy’ work — meaning that they maintain a significant presence online as ‘decoy’ children.

These decoys are all over the internet, social media, in online forums and across gaming platforms.

Once the decoy is contacted by a would-be pedophile, the hunter gathers evidence and finally contacts the police before confronting the pedophile live on camera.

All evidence is handed over to the police and in 2018, a staggering 60% of pedophile cases that made trial contained some evidence gathered by the hunters.

As well as decoy work, pedophile hunters maintain websites and their own social media pages which feature pedophiles who’ve been released back into the community following trial or a prison sentence…