Speaking on Good Morning Britain earlier today, a couple of mothers reveal how they have set up their own paedophile hunter group in an effort to further ensure the safety of their children.
With their backs facing the cameras to protect their identities, the women - who will only give their names as Julie and Paula - explained how they set up fake social media profiles pretending to be young girls.
They then use these profiles to talk to predators - mainly men - online, arranging to meet and confront them, all as part of a planned and rehearsed sting operation. "We set the operation up because we didn't feel the police were doing enough,” they explained.
"We would put a historical picture up in a chat room and wait for these people to talk with us. Everything is left down to them, the balls in their court. We wait for them to approach us with a meet.”
Last week, they filmed themselves confronting Nathan Watson, who thought he was meeting an 11-year-old girl. Nathan went on to plead guilty to “attempting to sexually communicate with a child for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification.” He will be sentenced at the end of the month.
However, questions arise as to whether this is safe for them to do, with hosts on Good Morning Britain asking why they don’t involve the police earlier in their quest.
"The easiest way for us to do it is go there and meet them, and then we instantly call the police so we know the police are on the way,” they explained, adding: “Several times we have handed over information to police and in all fairness there is no follow up.”
Jim Gamble, former head of Child Exploitations and Online Protection waded in on the discussion, suggesting that without proper training, the women could in fact be endangering the lives of other children and themselves.
What do you think? Would you ever be tempted to take matters into your own hands? Let us know over on Facebook and Twitter (@CloserOnline).
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