Some of you probably wont agree with what I am about to write – I don’t know particularly how I feel about it but I need to write it and so it will be said.
I think most people have heard about Stinson Hunter now, after the C4 documentary, his tactics are controversial and some do not agree with what he does – while others do.
When I was 17 / 18 I met a guy online, it was actually on a WAP site (not that they exist any more with the rise of technology and the ability to view full websites and apps on your mobile). He was just like the guys Stinson hunts, he picked me as I was vulnerable although after everything I had stories of him having got under ages girl pregnant that were at the time supposedly in his care.
I remember at the time thinking how its ok the police look out for this sort of thing, they would do set ups and take people down who would look for young children online, but of course they cannot take them all down.
I believed that for a long time, it kept me going in some ways and I guess now in many ways it shocks me that they perhaps don’t use such tactics to find and investigate people.
Surely a trick is being missed?
Thank you for writing this, whether I agree or not with tactics, I do know that more needs to be done and the police should investigate and support real victims more thoroughly.
As a teen and a troubled one at times, people take advantage of that and often feel they were the gullible daft ones and often do not speak out, sometimes they do and it is treated wrongly. More does need to be looked at and while controversial tactics may not always be appropriate, certainly more police intervention is needed
Interesting piece, I sat in shock watching the documentary, also what appeared shocking was the sentences handed out to these guys. It scares me and when my son is of an age when he will be using the internet I will need to think long and hard how I can protect him from these type of things.
I also watched the program as I had previously watched the original program ‘Dateline : To Catch a Predator’ which is where this idea first appeared, the US. I think it is great this guy in the UK is trying to do something, however in Dateline, they were backed up by the police, who were ready to arrest the perverts. Check out these programs on the internet…
Alas this will never happen in this country because the perverts who are driven to commit this act have so many rights to ‘protect themselves’ it is a joke! Also looking at what has happened in certain police force’s actions in regards to under age girls in many Northern towns and cities, (probably in lots of others too) i.e. political correctness gone mad, what hope do we or more importantly our children have?