A 61-year-old pedophile arrived at a park to meet someone he believed to be a child for illicit activities. When the excited predator got there, a pair of indignant vigilantes were waiting to ruin his day.
In the age of technology, child predators who used to have to approach minors outside of the home can easily gain direct access to our children. Through online gaming, social media, and even dating websites, these deviants are able to groom and harass their young victims with little fear of being caught. However, a pair of male vigilantes, known as the Perth Pedo Hunters, are fighting back.
When a 61-year-old Australian man, whose identity has been withheld by authorities, arrived at a local park, he thought he was meeting a 14-year-old boy named “Jarrod” for sex. The predator had been talking to his intended victim via notorious hookup app Grindr before pressuring the boy to have sex with him, according to 9News.
“Yeah I’m 14,” Jarrod typed.
“I love young,” the man replied.
“You don’t mind I’m only 14?” Jarrod typed.
“I am kool … R U free now babe?” (sic), the man replied.
The pair agreed to meet at Creyk Park in Kelmscott, and the man eagerly awaited his underage victim, New.com.au reports. However, instead of the 14-year-old boy arriving as expected, a pair of male vigilantes, known as the Perth Pedo Hunters, confronted him with evidence of his intentions.
“What are you up to?” the pedophile hunter asks.
“Oh, just chilling out,” the suspect says.
“Are you sure you’re not here to meet a 14-year-old boy named Jarrod?” the man asks.
“Nah,” the suspect replies.
Of course, his denial was no match for the incriminating text messages the hunters had saved. As such, the vigilantes made a citizens’ arrest and held the predator until authorities arrived. Police then arrested and processed the suspect for attempting to meet an underage boy for sex.
After the hunters provided the police with recorded conversations and video evidence, the suspect’s phone was seized and his house was raided for electronic equipment. He was subsequently charged with intent to procure a person believed to be under the age of 16 for sexual activity. He has since been denied bail.
“The way we look at it is, if it wasn’t us it could actually be a 14-year-old person meeting that adult so, I’d rather it be us than some innocent kid,” said one of the men, who asked not to be named. “How can someone who’s a full-grown adult, prey on someone who’s not even fully developed yet, a child? It’s just not right it’s downright disturbing.”
Along with the arrested suspect, the hunters have confronted 2 other predators within the same week. The pair filmed the encounters, which led to what could be perceived as a confession of guilt by one of the suspects.
“Okay, I’ve screwed up I know that,” he said. “I really like feel bad about myself. It was like a one time stupid … I’m sick.”
“You are sick, in the head mate,” the vigilantes replied.
The hunters explained that within 5 minutes of creating the 14-year-old “Jarrod” profile on Grindr, they received 30 messages from local men requesting sex with the fake teen. Many of the men were completely undeterred when they were told that Jarrod was only 14. Additionally, most of the content was too graphic for the local news to publish.
“These are the kind of people that are trying to talk to your children,” the men said. “You want to be careful what your kids do online … always look out for them.”
The hunters know that their endeavors won’t always result in an arrest and criminal charges, much less a conviction. However, they hope that the confrontations make the public aware of just how common the threat of sexual predators is to children in the digital age.
The police have routinely warned that pedophile hunting is dangerous and rarely results in criminal charges. Often times, private citizens do not know the law regarding entrapment, which can easily lead to a predator slipping through the cracks in the legal system. Without legal repercussions, these encounters can teach predators to be more cautious when seeking out real child targets, leaving them less likely to be caught in the future.
Authorities want citizens to leave the pedophile hunting up to them. However, with predatory behavior emboldened and ramped up thanks to social media, it’s difficult not to cheer on these vigilantes in their endeavors.
Source: Tap Worthy Happenings
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