Police are watching sex crime vigilantes
Often mistaken identity
Stirling police say they are monitoring online vigilante groups targeting suspected sex offenders – many of whom are completely innocent.
In recent months they say there has been a rise in social media being used as a tool to organise ‘registered sex offender protests’ across the country, including the Stirling area.
But police say many of those targeted by the online protesters are the result of mistaken identity – including a recent case in Stirling area.
Stirling Council’s public safety committee heard last Thursday that police had set up Operation Protect as the division’s response to planned demonstrations.
In a report Chief Superintendent Thom McLaughlin said they used social media to identify planned protests and ensure police were in attendance at them to “monitor criminality”, The force’s offender management engaged with anyone identified, before during and after such incidents.
Inspector Nigel Thacker told committee members: “There has been one occasion recently in the Stirling area but it was very low level.
“It was advertised on social media and a couple of people turned up for five or 10 minutes and left and the individual wasn’t actually in the property.
“Social media has a variety of groups who target individuals who they believe are making obscene or sexualised gestures towards young males or females. They post on their websites and try to gather support from locals.
“They try to out sex offenders but the majority have wrong information and wrong pictures. Sometimes we have to do more covert police work to re-educate these individuals.
“We have at times charged a few people for communication offences for threatening violence towards members of the public.
“It is not a pleasant thing, particularly when it is a mistaken identity as it was in this recent case.”
In April this year, there were cries of “beast out” when dozens of residents staged a protest outside the home in Bannockburn of child rapist Kenneth McKenna.
Between April and July this year sexual crimes increased by almost 35 per cent – up 22 crimes from 63 to 85.
However, 24 of these were classed as “historic enquiries” and dating prior to that period, leading police to conclude that victims were becoming more confident and able to report such offences.
The detection rate for sexual crimes stands at 80 per cent - above the national average.