Self-styled 'paedophile hunter' plans charity

Wednesday 26 September 2018

One year after her first snare, a local mum who impersonates teens on dating apps in order to catch online groomers is making plans for a sexual abuse charity that she says would support the families of perpetrators.

Inspired by her experiences catching online groomers, Cheyenne O’Connor says her charity would offer counselling and support not only to victims and their families, but also to the families of those found guilty of grooming and other sexual offences.

It comes after a whole year working as a self-styled ‘paedophile hunter’. 

Ms O’Connor has captured 12 men in connection with grooming offences in as many months.

Her first case involved a 19-year-old who had been messaging her friend’s daughter. He was sentenced to 180 hours’ community service after sending indecent images of himself to Ms O’Connor, who decided to pose as a 14-year-old girl. 

Despite a further 11 cases being brought to court after Ms O’Connor’s exchanges on dating sites such as Grindr, Police have warned against the controversial practice. They said it could produce evidence of “low” quality and could even undermine existing undercover police investigations.

Pictured: The Police say that entrapping civilians can lead to "low" quality evidence.

Some islanders claim she is operating in a moral grey area, but Ms O’Connor has maintained that she has taken what she believes to be “the right action.” However, at times, such action has proven so divisive that Ms O’Connor’s Facebook posts about her endeavours have been reported and taken down.

Nonetheless, one year on, Ms O’Connor says she has no intention of stopping, and wants to go beyond her vigilante work by starting a charity. 

While Jersey Action Against Rape (JAAR) and the Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) offer victim support, while NSPCC Jersey also offers support to parents and carers, Ms O'Connor stated: "There should also be support for the families of victims and of the accused. If a member of your family or a friend is accused, you are suffering as well. There isn't that kind of support over here.

“Since I have been doing this, I have noticed how many people are affected."

Pictured: Ms O'Connor now wants to start a charity.

Ms O'Connor says she would also like to offer financial support to the families of victims.

"One mum told me she had to pay £18,000 in legal fees after her daughter was assaulted because she was not entitled to legal aid," she explained.

Explaining why she first became a vigilante, Ms O’Connor added: “Rightly or wrongly, I took it upon myself to see what safeguards (if any) were available to our youth when online, but, more importantly, I was curious to see what deterrents there were for people grooming our children.”

It is for this reason the mother would also like to provide online safety courses for kids and adults.

It is still early days for the charity idea, however.

Ms O’Connor is currently looking to find an office space that could be home to the charity and is taking advice on what steps to take to create it.  

She will be meeting with various charity representatives in the near future.