splinter65 wrote: » But a paedophile is not necessarily someone who has, or will ever, abuse a child. Any kind of lynch mob does more harm then good. These glory hunters baying for blood and posting their exploits on social media are just driving paedophiles who WOULD seek to harm a child further underground, where they won’t be detected, ever.
MilesMorales1 wrote: » I'm all for the existence of these groups in theory in the sense of them gathering evidence to hand over to the police, but then filming and splashing it all over social media seems like glory hunting and endangering the actual work to get a successful prosecution.
Strazdas wrote: » The counter argument is that the vigilantes are "creating" criminals. A lot of the guys they seem to catch are middle aged saddos and loners and one wonders if many of them pose any threat to society or if they have committed any other crimes at all.
TallGlass wrote: » Sorry, I meant more so that it is possible to get a conviction/sentence from his actions. But that's down to the judge. I think he is fairly snookered to be honest. At minimum he is going on the sex offenders register, he won't be coming back to a job either or friends. He's basically ruined his life.
M5 wrote: » I guess Jimmy Saville can now be pardoned, as he too could be described as having a flamboyant personality?
silverharp wrote: » its their own work and this guy's life is over based on the video and what he had to have done to end up in leeds
TallGlass wrote: » I'm 50/50 on these groups to be honest, due to the English Police saying that the groups actions although in good faith can sometimes make a mess of the chain of evidence/custody, by releasing images footage before trial etc.. At the same time, it's good to get these creeps off the streets.
wonderfullife wrote: I'm sure you're aware being charged with a crime still means you're innocent right? You get that whole concept?
wonderfullife wrote: We don't know if this gentleman from RTE would ever have abused a child if we "just waited". The likelihood is that he would never have acted upon his impulses because the vast majority of paedophiles never act upon them and have no intention of ever committing a crime.
wonderfullife wrote: I'm interested in anything related to suicide prevention and after reading up on these vigilante groups I've read they are responsible for 4 reported deaths by suicide and none of the 4 died guilty men (all pre-trial), 1 of them wasn't even charged yet (though the police said they were considering bringing a charge). I'm certain they will be responsible for far more deaths in the future too and from innocent men.
wonderfullife wrote: ...they're not helping anyone. All the literature from experts, from forensic criminologists and sexologists points to the fact the overwhelming majority of paedophiles don't commit any crimes and the majority of child molestors are not paedophiles.
wonderfullife wrote: ...So these vigilante groups are likely not saving anyone elses child from abuse because the likelihood is they'd never have acted upon those impulses. They're not even helping the police (who have spoken out against them because of the potential to ruin police investigations). Police can have very complex sting operations such as with child pornography rings. The first thing one of these guys entrapped by vigilantes is going to do is go home and destroy evidence - throw his laptop in the nearest river and burn every photo.
wonderfullife wrote: I'm not in favour of any vigilante group full stop. Mobs = Bullies.
mikeysmith wrote: » A large portion of the paedophile high horse brigade are of dubious moral character themselves The paedophile being the lowest rung of society can have dirt flung at him by everyone including dodgy types
Hector Savage wrote: » It's not good faith, it's virtue signaling and making themselves feel better. If they get all this evidence why not hand it to the police and they can prosecute and charge successfully - making this public just makes it easier for their defense. These people don't give a **** about victims of sexual abuse, all their looking for is someone to make themselves feel big - scumbags chasing scumbags. do they donate to the Rape Crisis centre ? Do they volunteer to help victims of sexual abuse ? Do they **** !!!
SEPT 23 1989 wrote: » Amazing to see people attacking the group who nailed this toerag Do you have daughters?
Minderbinder wrote: » What assertion are you making here? Why aren’t you asking why these vigilante groups are so interested in this matter? Why aren’t these groups going after drug dealers who cause damage to far more lives, including far more adolescent lives? Or why aren’t they going after drunk drivers? Why are they pretending to be little girls? F**king bizarre behaviour. Can you just imagine pretending to be a little girl trying to attract some guy into committing a crime? That’s very f**ked up. They’re not as sick as the guys they catch but I wouldn’t be surprised if they had a few skeletons in their own closets.
gozunda wrote: » I note you appear to be very against anyone doing anything whatsoever as such people are evidently all just misunderstood! :rolleyes:
wonderfullife wrote: » Yeah they really couldn't care less about victims it's about acting the ''big man'. Publishing the video is about validation but it's also about a power trip - they want the power to be judge and jury. The minute they post the video online they know the guy is guilty in the court of public opinion immediately. They know it means bricks will be going through the guys front window, eggs thrown at his house, grafiti on his car. It's a power trip to be able to inflict that on whoever you want. The frightening part is I believe it could be done to anyone by mistake, especially as some of these vigilante meet-ups are organised for public places like Costa Coffee. It wouldn't take much to start videoing the wrong middle-aged person who walks through the door at the agreed time and whoever is being accused will act guiltily out of fear while being surrounded by a mob. They'll stutter their words. They'll tense up. They'll either run, hide or break down in tears. Post the video up and that's him destroyed. The sad part is the above isn't even a hypothetical. It has already happened. Who cares if stuff is even true anymore. Instant judgement culture. Accusations = proof.
NIMAN wrote: » As mentioned away back at the start of the thread, there was also a school teacher entrapped in Derry too recently. Video also on FB.
20Cent wrote: » Whoever ends up in a video is there to meet a child and will have exchanged messages with someone they think is a child. No sympathy, no legitimate reason for an adult to meet up with a child they don't know.
wonderfullife wrote: » Agree he's probably goosed if he's guilty, he'll lose everything that matters to him. He won't do much (if any) real jail time because it's a victimless crime and it's by all accounts his first criminal offence of any kind.Still, if that story about the 52 underage friends on facebook is true, it tells a tale that he wasn't charged with grooming any of them and wasn't charged with soliciting indecent images. As unpalatable as it sounds, it goes to show it's not a crime to merely be friends with a bunch of underage girls on social media. What it does show is the one fake account run by adult cowards veered the conversation in ways genuine children would never do. I say cowards because that's what they are. Showing up in numbers, mostly hiding behind anonymity, to confront, name and shame one person and find them guilty without trial in some kangaroo court.I find it impossible to believe if he was actively intent on grooming children that the police didn't find any further evidence from his chats with the other 52 girls. No messages asking for photos. No messages suggesting meeting. No requests to swap phone numbers. Nada. And it was clearly nada from the fact he wasn't charged with anything else. Any creative lawyer worth their salt could fight this charge though, so we'll see what way he pleads. In these cases a lot of them plead guilty just to get it over with rather than face a prolonged trial.
LadyMacBeth_ wrote: » I have to say I felt very uncomfortable watching the video, I know he was intending to commit a horrific crime but somehow the video felt very unnecessary, or the way they spoke to him anyway. The guy who does most of the talking mentions the fact that the guy is from Dublin and Ireland quite a lot, and over to harm one of "our" girls, shouldn't really matter, the fact that he wants to harm an underage girl is the point, not where she is from. Constantly calling him a disgusting paedophile and an animal etc just seems a bit gratuitous to me, wait for the police to come and deal with him, no need for the commentary.
DrPhilG wrote: » He wasn't a school teacher was he? I know he was a music teacher but I thought it was as in private lessons and tutoring etc rather than school. Which is all the more worrying as he would have had one on one access to countless kids.
orangerhyme wrote: » I still have no sympathy for him though, sending pics to a 13 year old, and he doesn't seem too lonely from his real Facebook
wonderfullife wrote: » He was cleared of all wrongdoing by the police but it was too late to save his job or his marriage.
NIMAN wrote: » I think the fact that he was planning to meet an 18yr old girl whilst he was married was maybe showing a bit of disrespect to his wife?
wonderfullife wrote: » I note you appear to lack the ability to read so I won't be entertaining any more of your drivel. He will get his chance to plead today. I'm sure if he's guilty he will plead guilty and get it over with. Sadly, if he's innocent he's just as likely to plead guilty and get it over with rather than drag his family through a harrowing trial process where a lot will be revealed in defending himself. Mob justice in a kangaroo court from a bunch of vigilante cowards.
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