Tell us what you know, child-sex vigilantes urged

Police fear they are holding back evidence

PAEDOPHILE HUNTERS could be sitting on evidence of child sex abuse during lockdown, police have warned.

Detectives fear a surge in selfstyled vigilantes taking action against suspected sex offenders as the current restrictions are eased, with around 90 groups thought to be active in the UK.

It comes more than six months after six members of the group Predator Exposure were cleared at Leeds Crown Court over charges including false imprisonment and assault, following a sting they carried out on two men in which police said they overstepped the mark.

Vigilante groups operate by posing as young people online, luring potential offenders, then confronting the suspects after arranging to meet face to face. Encounters are often filmed and posted online.

More than 100 undercover sting operations were carried out in the month leading up to the announcement of lockdown restrictions in March.

Only 16 such operations were recorded during the first month of lockdown, of which all but one were limited to “e-activism”, where evidence gathered in chat logs is passed to police.

Assistant Chief Constable Dan Vajzovic, the National Police Chiefs Council’s lead for online child sex exploitation activist groups, said that paedophile hunting groups were still active and potentially sitting on around 160 cases.

He said: “The online threat persists and we are concerned activists may be storing up incidents to act upon once lockdown measures are released.

“We believe that’s dangerous for child safety and encourage activist groups to pass any material to police at as early a stage as possible.”

Charities such as the NSPCC have warned that children may be at increased risk from sex offenders online as they spend more time at home on the internet during the pandemic.

Mr Vajzovic added that police had seen a “trickle” of vigilante stings as movement restrictions had been relaxed.

He said: “If there are groups out there who have information about child abuse they need to notify their local police as soon as possible.”