On October 4 last year, David Baker, was arrested after being confronted by the Southampton-based paedophile hunter group, TRAP. Three days later, on the 27, he was found dead in his home, surrounded by empty medication packets and two notes.
Mr. Baker held the belief that he was meeting with a 14-year old boy, instead it was the vigilante group that he found in the supermarket car park in Portswood, Southampton. It is usual for these groups to video and post these confrontations on social media sites, this was no exception.
Senior Hampshire Coroner, Grahame Short believes that these postings on social media were certainly contributing factors in Mr. Barkers suicide, contributing to his stress and isolation and therefore having a direct impact on his decision to end his life.
This is not the first time that ‘stings’ executed by vigilante groups have led to accused individuals taking their lives. Suggesting that elements of the methods used are not necessarily appropriate.
Not only are these kind of snare tactics very different from those used by the police, they can also bring about a host of other problems for the groups themselves. This can result in them potentially being investigated themselves for issues such as harassment, privacy offences and violence.
Police officers and detectives are now cracking down on paedophile-hunting vigilante groups after the number of active organisations across the UK reached over 75. Authorities claim that the amateur investigations carried out by these groups put long-term criminal investigations at risk and add an increased danger to children.
The National Police Chiefs Council guidance advises officers not to work with these groups, encouraging them to fully investigate them as well as any accused individuals that they give evidence against.
However, members of these groups are saying that the police are not doing enough to tackle the growing problem of online child grooming and abuse. Last year, the group Dark Justice celebrated a court ruling that will allow its members to continue to pose as children online in order to catch sexual criminals.
They maintain that whilst they are conducting their investigations they do not approach anyone first but instead, set up a profile and wait for the messages to come to them. By making it very clear to the individual that they are talking too that they are underage, they say that they are not snaring anyone that is innocent.
There has been calls for groups such as these to work in tandem with local police units in order to arrest potential paedophiles, however, they are currently not working under any authority guidelines, often making it very difficult for police to use the evidence brought to them to its full potential in a court cases.
Perhaps over time there will be a more serious overlap between the work of both the police force and the vigilante groups. Currently however, there does not seem to be a harmonious relationship between them.
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