Dutch Police give 'stop paedophile hunts' warning after arnhem death
 

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A Dutch police chief has called for an end to "paedophile hunting" after a 73-year-old retired teacher was beaten up by teenagers and died of his injuries.

Oscar Dros said there was a risk more people could die and he appealed for justice to be left to the authorities.

The man from the eastern city of Arnhem was lured into having sexual contact with a minor while in a gay chatroom.

Authorities said he was aware the boy was underage. But there was no evidence of past sexual contact with minors.

The Arnhem attack is the latest in a series of 250 incidents involving so-called "paedophile hunters" in the Netherlands, reports say.

What happened in Arnhem

Reports say the group of teenagers had come up with the idea of hunting for a paedophile after reading stories elsewhere in the Netherlands.

The former teacher arrived at an agreed meeting point on 28 October and was then followed as he made his way home. He was beaten up by a group of boys and died later in hospital.

Mayor Ahmed Marcouch has spoken of an "awful crime" that has had an impact on the local community. Dozens of neighbours, friends and former pupils took part in a ceremony to remember the victim last weekend.

The fifteen-year-old's lawyer told local website De Gelderlander that the idea of hunting paedophiles "happened out of boredom in this corona time". His client had got carried away but did not himself take part in the attack.

Jamil Roethof argued that the teenagers had only wished to confront the man and had no premeditated plan to attack him. He suggested he had died of a fall.

Seven teenagers were arrested, six of them under the age of 18, and two have been held in custody.

What do police say?
East Netherlands regional police chief Oscar Dros appealed to Dutch citizens to "stop paedo-hunting; stop detaining; stop provoking - leave this to us."

Mr Dros told Algemeen Dagblad newspaper that since July some 250 incidents had been registered involving self-styled hunters, and there were probably many more. The practice has now been banned by police and public prosecutors.

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People had been forced off the road, assaulted, threatened and publicly shamed on the internet, he said.

Facebook groups have sprung up across the country, with names like pedohuntnl, and some have attracted thousands of members.

One group member told public broadcaster NOS that "we're doing this to protect children".

Minutes after going into a chatroom, he claimed, five or six men would try to meet up with you, knowing full well you were a minor. "That's just not right."

Similar groups have appeared in the UK, prompting one assistant chief constable to say the overall activity of such groups was "not positive".

The Dutch police chief said such vigilante behaviour "has no effect, because the evidence these citizens believe they have is often paper thin".

He knew of not one example that had led to a paedophile being convicted.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54930488

i wonder would they do this if they could not put the whole thing on youtube for likes?

"after a 73-year-old retired teacher was
beaten up by teenagers and died of his injuries."

Yes I can see why police need to stop this.

I will admit some of the youtube videos where they pretend to be underage and film the perps when they arrive can be compulsive viewing.

paedo's need to be dealt with but not like this i agree police needs to stop this and the law will take care of these paedo's

Tbh Paedophiles need tougher sentencing than they get around Europe imo.

However I understand that The Police need to deal with Vigilantism.

I think this vigilante behaviour is wrong, in the context of instant justice. However I still feel when working with the law they serve a purpose. The internet is awash with preditors, law enforcement don't have the resources to tackle the weight of the issue.
In all other areas the public are called on to aid the police in their duties,why not this?

Im not sure why it was said there have been no convictions due to the nature in which they were detected. There has I followed one local group's activity for a while and their efforts secured many convictions.
I don't agree with the concept we should be sympathetic to grooming. All that said I want to be clear what happened to this man was 100% wrong.

I agree that law enforcement agencies don't have the resources to tackle it but I would counter, then, that the answer is that they SHOULD have the resources - there should be official regulated organisations for this, be they charity or tax funded, and untrained members of the public should not be "picking up the slack". It's a disaster waiting to happen and there are already multiple examples of serious judgement errors.

Vigilantism is best left to fiction.

I think when it's done right (IE, gathering evidence and presenting it to the authorities and being knowledgeable enough not to put anyone at risk) then 'peado hunting' can be valuable, but beating someone to death isn't justice.

remember when the paediatrician was assaulted

:umm2: