VIGILANTE “paedophile hunters” could be putting children at risk, Police Scotland has warned.
The caution from the force comes as one of the top officers in England and Wales suggested the police could work with groups like Dark Justice and Silent Justice, campaigners who pose as teenagers online and set up stings for paedophiles.
Last week Silent Justice shared a video of a 39-year-old man from Kilmaurs, whom they had lured to a meeting after pretending to be a 12-year-old girl. When he arrived they confronted him, and phoned police.
The video of that confrontation has been viewed more than 67,000 times.
Earlier this year, Dundee man Ross Ottaway appeared in court on two charges of sending an indecent communication and of having communicated with a child with the intention of making arrangements to meet them, after being targeted by members of the Creep Catchers UK group.
Detective Superintendent Elaine Galbraith from Police Scotland said she could understand the desire to catch paedophiles, but asked people not take the law into their own hands.
“If you think someone may be abusing children, please contact the police,” she said. “We will investigate and through our ongoing work with partners ensure that children are protected. It’s understandable that people want to protect children from harm but we would ask them not to take the law into their own hands. Let the police do their job and manage the risk presented by suspected offenders and ... registered sex offenders living in communities.
“Revealing the identity of suspected offenders can jeopardise ongoing investigations and it can give suspects the opportunity to destroy evidence. It can also put children at risk by making it difficult to identify victims or potential victims.
“In addition, identifying individuals could indeed heighten risk should, for instance, suspects or offenders go missing. It may have an adverse effect on the lives of family members.”
Figures obtained by the BBC show the number of court cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland over meeting a child after sexual grooming using vigilante evidence rose from 11 per cent in 2011 to 44 per cent in 2016: that’s 114 out of 259 cases.
Chief Constable Simon Bailey, the national lead for child protection at the National Police Chiefs’ Council, told the BBC: “Vigilante groups are putting the lives of children at risk. They might not perceive it that way, but they are potentially compromising our operations.”
However, he added: “I’m not going to condone these groups and I would encourage them all to stop, but I recognise that I am not winning that conversation.” When asked whether police could work with vigilantes, he said: “I think that’s something we’re going to have to potentially have to look at, yes, but it comes with some real complexity.”
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