‘Pedophile hunter’ groups rising in Europe
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 12:08 PM PT — Tuesday, February 4, 2020
Vigilante groups in some European countries are actively working to
expose sex offenders who attempt to lure children online. Between the
U.K., Germany, Scandinavia and the Netherlands, more than 3 million
vigilantes are serving justice to predators by making ‘citizens
arrests.’Many of the groups catch the predators by using a decoy to attract them online, find them in person and detain them before turning them over to authorities. The groups believe their way of due process is more efficient than waiting for the police who may not help in time. However, some officials worry the crime fighters may do more harm than good.
“These groups can lead to aspects like discrimination, stigmatization and ethnic profiling,” explained criminologist Mark Schuilenburg. “…everything of every person who deviates from the norm in those neighborhoods becomes a suspect.”
A recent statistic shows the number of pedophiles identified with evidence from vigilantes tripled in 33 U.K. precincts between 2016 and 2018.
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