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'Paedophile hunters could jeopardise investigations' say police following Darlington incident
By Joanna Morris
ONLINE vigilantes risk jeopardising child sex investigations, police have warned. Darlington Police have warned self-styled paedophile catchers to leave catching predators to the professionals. The warning comes after a video was posted to Facebook on Friday (May 22) showing a man confronted in the street by individuals who posed as a teenager online in an effort to snare paedophiles. Police say the pair undeniably acted with good intentions but are urging people not to follow in their footsteps. Inspector Caroline Dawson said there was a real danger of such actions tipping off wrong-doers and alerting them to potential police activity. She said posting such incidents online amounted to an early warning for those with something to hide, who may then go onto destroy vital evidence ahead of police involvement. Insp Dawson said: “When these things fall into the hands of the public they can hit social media before police have the opportunity to investigate. “Evidence could be lost or destroyed, victims may be more at risk and it could cause real problems for the outcome of any court case. “There’s also the risk that innocent people end up dealing with the effects of this, like family members who may have nothing to do with it. “Also, if someone turns out to be innocent, the damage has already been done. “Our biggest fear is that the suspect may dispose of evidence we need to retrieve very quickly. “Evidence in cases like these can be easily destroyed, hence when we issue warrants we don’t tell people we’re coming.” Sending a message to potential paedophile hunters she added: “Effectively these incidents say to people ‘we know what you’re doing and the police are coming so if you’ve got anything to hide, get rid of it’. “As a society we need to do this lawfully – it’s the right thing to challenge people who might be committing crimes, especially abusing children, but there are ways to do it and we have effective ways to report such activity. “By all means point us in the right direction but please leave this to the experts.” Insp Dawson urged anyone with intelligence about potential criminal activity, including sexual abuse, to report it to the authorities. Sarah’s Law can also be used to access information about suspected sex offenders living in the community. Following Friday’s incident, a 44-year-old Darlington man has been charged with two counts of attempting to meet a child following grooming.
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