Men accused of being paedophiles by vigilante hunter groups have been found dressing as women in a bid to lure in young victims and avoid detection by police, it can be revealed today.
Videos shared online show men wearing wigs and women’s clothing being confronted about alleged sexual messages or activity with children.
Other accused men have been found in possession of women’s clothes and even fake breasts, according to online hunters.
It is claimed that the alleged practice is designed to put vulnerable children at ease, as well as avoiding detection by police by disguising their real identity.
The vigilante groups behind the videos claim the men have been committing crimes including sending photos of their genitals to children and receiving indecent images in return.
One video showed a man – dressed in a red skirt, red coat and with a ponytail wig – shamelessly admit to the vigilantes that he is attracted to children because of their ‘innocence’.
The person filming tells viewers the man was trying to ‘dodge the police by pretending to be a woman.’
They accuse the man of ‘thinking it’s funny’, before he replies: ‘[I’m] not finding it funny anymore.’
One video showed a man – dressed in a red skirt, red coat and with a ponytail wig – shamelessly admit to the vigilantes that he is attracted to children because of their ‘innocence’
A second video showed an alleged paedophile in South Wales who the hunters accused of sending photos of his genitals to children
While being asked questions on the video stream, the alleged paedophile says he has been talking to two children in the last month, since ‘being released from prison’.
The vigilante claims the man would take the children shopping to ‘make it normal’, and that during messages to someone he thought was a child suggested ‘giving them a bit of [alcohol]… to make them feel at ease.’
When asked what attracts him to children, the man replies: ‘Their innocence’.
A second clip from South Wales shows a different man in a long blonde wig and a yellow low-cut top, who also appears to be wearing fake boobs.
While being detained by two people, the man is accused of ‘talking to real children online’ and ‘doing a hell of a lot of grooming to get them to be friends with you’.
One of those confronting him says he has been sent indecent images of children, to which he replies: ‘I delete them’.
They then yell at a passerby: ‘He just sent pictures of his penis to a child’.
Other stings by the vigilante groups resulted in men being found with women’s clothing and even fake boobs
One man was accused of finding the allegations against him ‘funny’ and admitted being attracted to children because of their ‘innocence’
The clip ends with the man being arrested and put in the back of a police car by officers.
Vigilante paedophile hunters typically operate in online groups, with members posing as young boys and girls to try and lure suspected paedophiles into conversations.
Once the ‘decoys’ – as they are termed by the hunters – have collected ‘evidence’ of someone communicating sexually with a child, or arranging to meet with them, they then confront their victims in person.
Usually the hunters film their confrontation, sometimes even livestreaming it to thousands of avid followers online.
Once confronted, the group members call police and await their arrival, at which point the suspects are usually arrested.
The practice has exploded in the UK over the last five years, with online gangs based all over the country.
Police previously estimated they use evidence from paedophile hunters in up to 50 percent of cases.
However the groups have come under fire in recent years after several high profile incidents saw innocent men’s lives destroyed after falsely being confronted on livestream.
Sam Miller was jailed for nine months and told by the judge that he has an ‘inflated sense of his own importance’ after falsely accusing a father of being a paedophile
James Moss (pictured) played a security role in the operation and was handed a suspended sentence and curfew
Some reported losing their family, marriage and even their jobs after pictures of them circulated online falsely denouncing them as paedophiles.
In 2023, two so-called paedophile hunters became the first to be jailed after they forced a father to the ground and ‘berated and humiliated him’ live online.
They falsely accused the man of being a convicted rapist and of sexting a child – but he was released by police without charge.
A judge ruled that Sam Miller, from County Durham, and James Moss, from Northumberland, were after the ‘glory’ of catching a paedophile and were more interested in ‘Facebook likes’ than whether their victim was guilty.
Moss also previously had a conviction for impersonating a police officer, and the judge said they had an ‘unhealthy obsession with sex offenders’.
Miller was jailed for nine months, while Moss was handed a six-month suspended term.
