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Police have used evidence obtained from vigilantes to help them catch people in connection with grooming offences six times over the past three years – but they claim ‘paedophile hunting’ is “high risk” and that some techniques may themselves be criminal.
The practice often involves an individual posing in an online chatroom or dating site as a child, and agreeing to meet with an individual older than them. The exchanges are later passed to the Police for analysis.
While understanding the public’s desire to protect children, Police have warned that those who take the law into their own hands to entrap civilians in this way are likely to produce evidence of “low” quality and could even undermine existing undercover police investigations.
“Techniques used by vigilantes may not always be acceptable police investigative tactics and in some cases may involve criminality. There is also an absence of any governance or control for their actions nor any way of safeguarding child victims. There is no way of controlling the risk that vigilante activity might disrupt covert law enforcement activity, given that both will seek to target the same types of offender,” officers explained in a statement.
Pictured: Police said that vigilantes' activities could pose a risk to their own covert investigations.
They added that there could also be a risk to the safety of the vigilantes themselves.
“It is for these reasons we don’t condone this activity or work with vigilante groups, but if evidence is handed to us, we will act on that.”
The comments came in a response to a recent Freedom of Information request following a spate of high-profile stings by islander Cheyenne O’Connor, a self-dubbed ‘hunter’ in her 20s.
Her actions have divided the local community, with some claiming that she is operating in a ‘moral grey area’. But Ms O’Connor has defended herself on numerous occasions, stating that she is protecting children from potential future harm.
Pictured: Cheyenne O'Connor recently helped to convict two men in connection with grooming offences.
A recent trapping saw 27-year-old Joao Manuel Mendonca Gomes sent behind bars for six months after attempting to meet 14-year-old ‘John’ - a character invented by Ms O’Connor on Grindr, a dating app aimed at gay men.
Former British Sign Language teacher Robert Lupton-Le Masurier is now awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to sexual grooming after attempting to meet a 13-year-old – another of Ms O’Connor’s creations.
Her latest project is a petition addressed to the Chief Minister calling for higher sentences for offences against children. It has racked up over 1,300 signatures in under a week.
Police are advising anyone concerned about child welfare to contact the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) on 519000, the NSPCC on 760800. Cases of suspected criminality should be reported to the Police on 612612 or anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
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