Anti-pedophile activism
Anti-pedophile activism encompasses opposition to pedophiles, pedophile advocacy groups, child pornography, and child sexual abuse.
History
Organized social activism against child sexual molesters occurred in the 18th century, by the Society for the Reformation of Manners.[1]
The
In the
Groups
The Blue Angel Association
A French group[6] who successfully sued Gabriel Matzneff in 2020.[7]
Perverted-Justice
Perverted-Justice was an anti-
Jewish Community Watch
Jewish Community Watch, a global New York City-based organization with an office in Israel, focusing on prevention of child sexual abuse in the Orthodox Jewish community, received mixed support over their posting the names of suspected pedophiles on their main website. The column titled the "Wall of Shame" listed the names of individuals suspected of abuse, their photos and testimonies from alleged victims.[11]
Letzgo Hunting
Letzgo Hunting is an Internet-based anti-paedophilia vigilante group based in Barwell, Leicestershire, England. A man committed suicide days after being accused and "named and shamed" of being a paedophile by the group.[12]
Others
Another initiative, Predator Hunter, headed by Wendell Kreuth, aims to track down and expose the pornography-related activities of alleged 'sexual predators', as disclosed in his interview with Minnesota Public Radio.[13][14] The activities of Predator Hunter in the previous years garnered more attention, particularly the actions of Bradley Willman, whose anti-pedophile activism is described below:
Between 1997 and 2001, Brad Willman was known as Omni-Potent, an Internet vigilante who would track pedophiles by spending 16-plus hours a day hacking into people's computers from his parents’ house in Langley, a suburban community just outside Vancouver. Ultimately, he was responsible for the arrests of about 40 pedophiles across Canada and the U.S. Willman's successful, albeit unpaid and short-lived venture as "Citizen Tipster," as he was known by police, is now over. But his activities have sparked intense debate over the legality of his tactics.[15][16]
He would verify where suspects were from, and send the information on to Predator-Hunter, an online pedophile watchdog group that would, in turn, send it to other sources to be verified before passing it on to police. "Parents in a number of countries, I think, owe OmniPotent a debt of gratitude for what he did," says Wendell Krueth, president of Predator-Hunter. The end justifying the means is a concept Predator-Hunter supports. "We don't tell people to go hack, but we consider whatever information we get worthy in taking down pedophiles," Krueth says.[17]
In several instances, members of
Many of these activist groups were inspired either directly or indirectly by the segment
.Creep Catchers refers to non-affiliated individuals and groups which operate in 15 cities across Canada, posing as children in chat rooms to sting, record and shame adults who try to meet them for sex.[23] POP Squad ("POP" standing for "Prey on Predators"), a Connecticut-based group, is one of several similar online groups operating in the United States.[24][25]
Wanted Pedo is the main French association struggling against paedophile networks. Their website have been suspended by justice[26] for exposing paedophile websites.
Predator Poachers, a Houston-based vigilante group, claimed that as of 2022 its activity had led to arrests in 27 U.S. states.[27] The group was responsible for exposing comedian and content creator Bryant Moreland, more commonly known by his online alias EDP445,[28] for allegedly talking to one of their decoys in 2021. The group was permanently banned from YouTube after the event due to policy violations.[28]
One group, Dads Against Predators [also known as DAP Inc or D.A.P] was founded in
A
Criticism of tactics
A representative of the
A paper from the University of East Anglia states that pedophile hunters might "have the effect of unduly diverting criminal justice resources from sex offenders who pose a considerable risk to the public towards low-risk offenders, the so-called ‘low-hanging fruit'", and that "Paedophile-hunting groups can circumvent procedural safeguards and regulations that exist to moderate state power and protect the human rights of those subject to a criminal process."[38]
Many of these activist groups have been accused by the media, law enforcement and the general public of resembling
One of the most controversial moments for anti-pedophile activism came when
See also
- Anti-pornography movement
- Chris Forcand
- Ephebophilia
- Hebephilia
- To Catch a Predator – A Dateline NBC series that collaborated with Perverted-Justice
- John Wojnowski
- Maxim Martsinkevich
References
- S2CID 145661721.
- ^ Dutch paedophiles set up political party Dutch News at Expatica, May 30, 2006. Retrieved January 22, 2012
- ISBN 9780191665097.
- ^ "English Fascists Have Descended On Rotherham's Sex Abuse Scandal | VICE | United Kingdom". VICE. September 2014. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
- ^ "Rotherham Abuse Scandal: National Front and English Defence League Fight on Streets". International Business Times UK. 2014-09-13. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
- ^ "The Blue Angel Association". The Blue Angel Association. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
- ^ "DA refuses to prosecute 'Catch a Predator' cases". NBC News. 28 June 2007.
- ^ "Perverted Justice chief told to explain how he lost files in trial of East Bay doctor". 4 June 2009.
- ^ "Ex-Cop May Get Relief in Kiddie Case".
- ^ Silberstein, Rachel."Watching the Jewish Community Watch and Its 'Wall of Shame:' A young man's brazen blog about alleged child sex-abusers in the Chabad community divides Crown Heights." Tablet Magazine. July 26, 2013.
- ^ Fricker, Martin (18 September 2003). "Gary Cleary suicide: Man hangs himself after vigilantes accuse him of being a paedophile". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
- ^ Chasing online predators, April 15, 2002, retrieved May 21, 2007
- ^ The Big Chill: Verizon's decision last month to shut off a Montreal ISP for hosting edgy gay chatboards points to a colder, grayer internet ahead, November 2006, retrieved May 21, 2007
- ^ Howard, Cori Internet Vigilante in Maclean's, Vol. 118, Issue 23 (2005), pp. 56-57 (or at Ebsco portal[dead link]
- ^ See also Casey, Eoghan, Digital Evidence and Computer Crime: Forensic Science, Computers and the Internet. London: Academic Press, 2004. pg. 580 [1]
- ^ Howard, "Internet Vigilante", pg.56
- ^ "French, Rose Jehovah's Witnesses Settle Abuse Cases Associated Press coverage at Silentlambs (May 10, 2007)
- CanWest Global Communications.
- ^ George Schuurman; Janelle Blackadar (2007-12-06). "Man facing six charges in Child Exploitation investigation, Photograph released, Chris Forcand, 53" (PDF). News Release. Toronto Police Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-02-27. Retrieved 2008-02-25.
- CANOE. Toronto Sun. Archived from the original on 2012-12-05. Retrieved 2008-02-19.)
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link - ^ "Anonymous :: Project Pedophile Unmasked". 2018-11-17. Archived from the original on 2018-11-22. Retrieved 2018-11-21.
- ^ Krishnan, Manisha (January 5, 2017). "The Rise of Creep Catchers, Canada's Vigilante Pedophile Hunters". Vice. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
- ^ Zadrozny, Brandy (January 2, 2019). "He lures alleged child predators and shames them on Facebook. Now one of his targets is dead". NBC News. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
- ^ Lambert, Ben (February 18, 2019). "CT vigilantes who target alleged child predators draw cheers, concern". New Haven Register. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
- ^ "La suppression du site Wanted Pedo, vaine tentative de censure - donde vamos". dondevamos.canalblog.com. 2016-03-18. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
- ^ Wymer, Garrett (May 26, 2022). "WKYT Investigates Vigilante justice". WKYT. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
- ^ a b Asarch, Steven. "A predator hunting YouTuber and a man seemingly caught in a sting both had their channels removed by the platform". Insider. Retrieved 2023-04-02.
- ^ "Law enforcement calling on Dads Against Predators to cease operations". 19 October 2020.
- ^ "Warrants issued for men involved in 2022 'Dads Against Predators' Hanes Mall BLVD shooting, Winston-Salem Police Department". 9 January 2023.
- ^ "2 Ohio members of Dads Against Predators wanted in North Carolina, police say". 9 January 2023.
- ^ "Deaths after disgrace?".
- ^ "Man known for pursuing sexual predators shot to death in Oakland County restaurant". 30 September 2023.
- ^ "Online personality 'Boopac Shakur,' known for exposing alleged sexual predators, shot and killed in Michigan". CNN. 2 October 2023.
- ^ "Police arrest 2 men in killing of Pontiac man known for fooling sexual predators".
- ^ a b Daniel, Mac, "Vigilante Websites Combat Solicitation of Minors for Sex", Boston Globe. Oct 11, 2003. pg. B.3 [2]
- ^ Colgin, Chris and Jason Trahan, "Campaign against Child Sex Predators Draws Critics", Dallas Morning News. September 11, 2006 [3]
- .
- ^ https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Dallas-suburb-cries-foul-after-fatal-sex-sting-1868202.php
- ^ https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5238922&page=1