Vigilante Paedo Catchers

[spyguy]

Another day, another idiot finds out the 11 yo hes been grooming is a bunch of blokes.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3776428/Moment-paedophile-snared-bringing-condoms-Bluewater-meeting-11-year-old-girl-lured-sex-fiancee-away-HEN-DO.html

Im not sure how you can be done for trying to get into the pants of a bloke pretending to be an 11yo girl.

Seriously, whats the charge?

Im not defending kiddly fiddlers but surely the defending can claim he knew the profile was a bloke?

[Frank Hovis]

I'd have thought entrapment.

What if their profile picture looked like they were 18, you had a lot of sexed up communication with this "woman" and arrange to meet then just before you do so she says she's not really 18 but 15.99999 and you think "what the hell" as Adam Johnson did.

It's a really murky area.

[LiveinHope]

I'd have thought entrapment.

What if their profile picture looked like they were 18, you had a lot of sexed up communication with this "woman" and arrange to meet then just before you do so she says she's not really 18 but 15.99999 and you think "what the hell" as Adam Johnson did.

It's a really murky area.

You'd be very silly boy to break the age limit for a sexual relationship in any country.

[spyguy]

You'd be very silly boy to break the age limit for a sexual relationship in any country.

Esp a foriegn one wuth guns and death penaly.

My comments centres on how can you arrest someone whos been talking to a bloke lying about being an 11yo girl?

[Frank Hovis]

You'd be very silly boy to break the age limit for a sexual relationship in any country.

What if you know it's a sting and deliberately go after the vigilantes with a video camera?

I'm very dubious of their motives, it reminds me of the old days of "queer bashers" who were doing it to deny and to hide that they themselves were queer.

[spyguy]

What if you know it's a sting and deliberately go after the vigilantes with a video camera?

I'm very dubious of their motives, it reminds me of the old days of "queer bashers" who were doing it to deny and to hide that they themselves were queer.

Crossing the Vaz thread...

[LiveinHope]

What if you know it's a sting and deliberately go after the vigilantes with a video camera?

I'm very dubious of their motives, it reminds me of the old days of "queer bashers" who were doing it to deny and to hide that they themselves were queer.

I was really replying to the 15.99999, oh feck it, question

In response to the grooming / vigilante entrapment, is the entrapment aspect any different to when someone thinks they're selling arms to a military regime that turns out to be MI6/SIS ? I would guess that it is the 'vigilante' element and here, I don't know the law.

And if you know it's a sting, or are trying to out vigilante the vigilantes, just inform PC plod. Trying to go after it yourself is far too dangerous due to the obvious misinterpretation.

[Frank Hovis]

I was really replying to the 15.99999, oh feck it, question

In response to the grooming / vigilante entrapment, is the entrapment aspect any different to when someone thinks they're selling arms to a military regime that turns out to be MI6/SIS ? I would guess that it is the 'vigilante' element and here, I don't know the law.

And if you know it's a sting, or are trying to out vigilante the vigilantes, just inform PC plod. Trying to go after it yourself is far too dangerous due to the obvious misinterpretation.

I agree that you shouldn't consider breaking the law.

But I am not alone in winding up the 419 merchants and everybody thinks that's perfectly fine; if somebody got off on winding up these vigilantes by spotting and pretending to fall for their sting then they're not breaking the law are they?

[LiveinHope]

I agree that you shouldn't consider breaking the law.

But I am not alone in winding up the 419 merchants and everybody thinks that's perfectly fine; if somebody got off on winding up these vigilantes by spotting and pretending to fall for their sting then they're not breaking the law are they?

Are you breaking the law if you pretend to sell arms to pretend arms dealers, just to wind them up ?

All a bit of a minefield

And a predisposition that I'm glad I don't need to satisfy.

[porca misèria]

What if you know it's a sting and deliberately go after the vigilantes with a video camera?

You're getting into a plot line about as silly as, say, this.

[knock out johnny]

I was really replying to the 15.99999, oh feck it, question

In response to the grooming / vigilante entrapment, is the entrapment aspect any different to when someone thinks they're selling arms to a military regime that turns out to be MI6/SIS ? I would guess that it is the 'vigilante' element and here, I don't know the law.

And if you know it's a sting, or are trying to out vigilante the vigilantes, just inform PC plod. Trying to go after it yourself is far too dangerous due to the obvious misinterpretation.

The penalties for attempted anything are just as harsh as perpetrating the crime in full. Mens rea and all that

The only offence I know of that has no "attempted" element to it is fraud - as pulling the scam off or not has no bearing Just trying it on is enough to be found guilty - which makes sense, sort off. Fraud is notoriously hard to prove however.

[The XYY Man]

Change the word "pigeon" to "paedo" - and it kind of works as a theme-tune to a "Real Vigilantes Of Huddersfield" type TV-series...

XYY

[Rave]

But I am not alone in winding up the 419 merchants and everybody thinks that's perfectly fine; if somebody got off on winding up these vigilantes by spotting and pretending to fall for their sting then they're not breaking the law are they?

I'm not sure how you would come across them unless you were actively seeking to chat to pubescent children online. I'm pretty sure that they don't go around initiating contact.

I'm as uncomfortable as anyone about vigilante justice, but at the same time it's not acceptable to have paedophiles grooming kids online with a view to sexually abusing them. I have heard of the police themselves operating similar sting operations but I imagine that, as a rather speculative venture with no guarantee of any collars in return for hours pretending to be a child on social media, it's probably a hard project to justify in a results-driven, budget constrained operating environment. If these hobbyists are prepared to put the time in for free, and with the very obvious proviso that there should never be any physical violence when they do arrange a meeting to expose people, on balance I can't object.

The ideal outcome is for it to become widely known that anyone seeking out underage kids online and arranging to meet them is more likely to be greeted by four scary blokes with a camcorder than the kid they were expecting.