Over the last few months, the profile of so-called ‘paedophile hunters' in the judicial system and media has been heightened after the former head of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Agency Jim Gamble suggested more than a thousand volunteers could be recruited to help police combat the rapidly-growing problem of online child sexual abuse.
Gwent police and crime commissioner Jeff Cuthbert took this further and suggested that organised groups of hunters could work alongside police.
Paedophile hunters are adults who pretend to be children in online chat rooms. Their method of operating usually sees them tracking and talking to paedophiles and would-be abusers and continuing the conversation when the offenders attempt to groom them. In many cases, real-life meetings are arranged between the groomer and intended victim.
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