Are Paedophile Hunter Groups Legal?

Paedophile hunter groups are not law enforcement but at the moment, rightly or wrongly, there are no laws in place prohibiting them from what they do.  Hunter groups are formed by members of the public often with ordinary jobs and lives of their own. Hunter groups will use social media platforms to carry out their “work”, such as Facebook, Snapchat, GrindR, Jaumo, KIK and Instagram. By not being law enforcement they  have no  or very little understanding of the rules of evidence which can inevitably set them up to fail, destroying prosecutions and people’s lives. The activities of these groups, which have sometimes involved the use of violence against alleged suspects, are antithetical to numerous core values and functions of the criminal justice system, not to mention how the human rights of a suspects may be violated. 

How Paedophile Hunter Groups Operate


Paedophile hunter groups set up fake accounts on social media platforms pretending to be children, they are known to use photos of adults who look very young to give their account and fake profile credibility. Well known hunter groups such as Cobra have many people working with them, managing the social media accounts and engaging with adults daily with the hope that sexual offences will be committed. 


They will usually make it very clear throughout the conversation of their pretend age, this is done for evidential purposes, so that when they do apprehend the accused there is no defence available to them that they did not know it was a child. They may make reference to school, homework, or their parents. Repeated use of a person making reference to them being a child is a common tool used by those posing undercover online as children. 


When enough evidence is gathered through the chat the hunter groups will look to arrange a meeting. The accused will think they are meeting a child only to be confronted by the hunter group. This meeting is often streamed on social media, with the accused having to endure being berated, a step as defence lawyers we take serious issue with.


Mobile phone showing social media application icons

As private citizens, paedophile hunters’ activities fall outside the scope of guidelines that law enforcement must comply with when carrying out undercover sting operations. However, they depend on the police and prosecution service to bring offenders to justice.  However, justice can not be administered if the evidence collected is unlawful, or the rights of the accused have been compromised.

"In 2023 90% of the evidence in offences of meeting a child following online sexual grooming came from hunter groups."

Black and white picture of ashamed man with head in hands

Mistakes Made by Paedophile Hunter Groups and the Impact on a Fair Trial
 

Nationwide there have been a number of cases of mistaken identity by hunter groups, leading to people being falsely accused of very serious sexual offences against children. What can lead to false identification is the ability to clone other people’s social media accounts and use their identity to commit criminal offences. The actual owner of the account, is none of the wiser as to what is going on and how their identity is being used until the hunter group posts about them online, by this point the damage to their reputation is done.


Individuals can also be falsely targeted for no other reason than to cause trouble for them. Once a hunter group is alerted to the potential that there is a person potentially engaging online and committing child sexual offences, they will out them as soon as possible regardless of whether or not there is proof. 

 

Hunter groups have no real understanding of the rules of evidence, how evidence should be gathered and securely stored. They also do not understand the potential impact of parading the accused online could have on a trial, and how the accused's rights to a fair trial under article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights can be severely affected, leading to the case being withdrawn. 


The consequences of improper evidence gathering and tactics used by hunter groups can seriously impact the proper administration of justice, leading to failed prosecutions.

What Hunter Groups Do Not Consider


Hunter groups are very narrow minded, and have one aim. They want to reach this aim and obtain as much glory for themselves online as possible, not giving consideration to potentially very important issues such as the mental health or mental capacity of the accused, and any family they have who would be impacted.


At Eventum Legal we have represented many neurodivergent clients in circumstances where they have been accosted by hunter groups, and we have successfully challenged the hunter groups approach and their evidence gathering, giving particular consideration to the special educational needs of our client. This has led in a vast majority of these cases, where these circumstances apply not being prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).


How the Police Respond To Paedophile Hunter Groups


UK police are given one new child abuse claim to investigate every seven minutes, while the National Crime Agency (NCA) estimates that 550,00 to 850,000 people pose a sexual threat to children in the UK. Together with the police, the NCA arrests, on average, 842 suspects a month for child sex offences. This is a huge number, and it is our job as defence lawyers to challenge the arrests, the evidence and to assist those facing serious criminal charges. 


Police do not usually engage directly with hunter groups, but when they are presented with evidence by them they investigate that as they would with any other complaint made.  In 2023 police force statistics shown that 90% of the evidence in cases whereby an adult had gone on to meet a child following online sexual grooming came from hunter groups. This is 90% of cases whereby the evidence has the potential to be fraught with issues concerning lawfulness, reliability and credibility.

Defending Cases Based on Evidence From Paedophile Hunter Groups


Thorough consideration must be given to any evidence presented in a criminal case. Evidence which arises from members of the public in such serious and sensitive sexual offence cases is open to severe criticism. At Eventum Legal we have had many cases dropped whereby the accused may have committed an offence but, the way in which the evidence has been gathered and the accused apprehended removes the right to a fair trial the ultimate cornerstone of the English legal system, and creates difficulties for the Crown Prosecution Service.

How Eventum Legal Can Help You


With significant experience in defending sexual offence cases, our lawyers take a meticulous approach to the examination of prosecution evidence; where it has come from, who has obtained the evidence, the content of the evidence and how this has been used. Our aim is to identify flaws in any evidence gathered so that we can challenge the lawfulness of it, and how it may not be admissible for use in court proceedings. Whilst doing this we are a strong support to our clients, working alongside you and ensuring your wellbeing and reputation are protected.


Navigating an allegations of a child sex offence is difficult, it can cause feelings of anxiety and shame but our friendly, non judgemental team are here to help you. We offer free initial and strictly confidential advice.

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