Paedophile hunter willing to risk arrest if laws changed

Mother of two Cheyenne O’Connor, 27, was speaking in the wake of news that the UK Supreme Court has been asked to decide whether the actions of paedophile vigilantes who helped catch a child sex offender in Scotland had breached his human rights.

In 2018, Mark Sutherland, 37, matched up online with someone who, when he communicated with them, claimed to be a 13-year-old boy. He sent sexual messages and images to ‘the boy’ and arranged to meet him at Partick Bus Station in Glasgow.

In reality, Sutherland was not communicating with a boy, but a member of Groom Resisters Scotland.

The group confronted Sutherland at the arranged meeting point, broadcast the encounter on social media and handed the evidence to the police. Sutherland, who had previous convictions, was subsequently convicted of attempting to communicate indecently with a child plus related offences and jailed for two years.

Miss O’Connor, who lives in Jersey, has been described as Britain’s most prolific paedophile hunter. Her efforts to date have led to the conviction of 25 men – two in Guernsey, four in the UK and 19 in Jersey.

Posing as child, she goes online, giving those making contact clear information of her supposed age early in their dialogue.

When she believes she has sufficient information to show that grooming is taking place she hands it over it to police without confronting people herself.

‘I don’t live stream, I don’t post before conviction [on Facebook], and I don’t go to the doors of these people,’ she said

‘There are teams that ruin the name of paedophile hunters by making a mockery of it, blackmail, assaults, live streaming of the wrong person, it’s all happened, although rarely.

‘I agree things should be more regulated for those teams that do, but many teams would not attend the perpetrator’s house if the police acted more quickly.’

If the law was to change in the Channel Islands Miss O’Connor said she would carry on her work regardless even if it meant she was arrested.

‘For me, it would be a price worth paying if a paedophile was arrested too,’ she said.

‘If they make it illegal I suppose we’ll still have to make sure people are exposed, which then turns people vigilante, but what other option do they leave people?

‘If we were just to stop and leave it, we ourselves would be part of the problem and real children would be left open to real abuse.

‘I really don’t think any laws will change, and if they did, they would see a huge rise in real children being groomed online.’

The Crown prosecution service in Scotland is opposing Sutherland’s appeal.

It argues that the criminal prosecution of sexual conduct between an adult and a child ‘does not engage’ someone’s rights to privacy.

‘There is no right to respect for such behaviour in a democratic society,’ said Alison de Rollo QC.

It was clear that the overriding duty of the police was ‘to respond to any report of any identified person who may pose a sexual risk to children’.

There was guidance that set out ‘the risks, the activities, the undesirability of the activities of these groups’ but regardless of the source of evidence, the usual high standards of investigation were required.

Members of paedophile hunter groups were themselves liable to criminal prosecution if they broke the law, she said.

The Supreme Court will deliver its ruling at a later date.