They can be counterproductive, endangering ongoing investigations, and the evidence obtained from stings is legally shaky. The hunters’ efforts can unravel into violence. It has led to a number of suicides in several countries. It’s not difficult for people to view the problem as a vast specter hovering over children everywhere, even though (or perhaps because) accurate statistics on grooming are hard to come by.īut using social media to name and shame potential offenders is deeply problematic. Drawing a child into sex can be as easy as an online chat, and child pornography has proliferated with the rise of the internet.
The hunters are responding to very real dangers lurking online.
