Vigilante Paedophile Hunters... What Next?

So I read an article on Vice today, about vigilante paedophile hunters operating in various cities across Canada. Now I agree that child exploitation of any kind is a bad thing, and needs to be stopped, but this article really did not sit well with me. So I've broken it down here for analysis. I'll start off with a picture that was featured in the article, and then go from there.

A mason worker living in Calgary with three pit bulls...

Three pit bulls? So he's got a tiny penis and a chip on his shoulder, with something to prove to the world. Great start. The shirtless, tattoo-revealing picture in the article only adds to that image.

Just thinking about child predators, it seems, never ceases to make his blood boil.

Yes, probably in much the same way that closeted gay and transvestite politicians try to pass laws that target gays and transvestites. Can we say self loathing?

But Raymond assures me he takes a cooler approach when posing as a 13-year-old girl on popular dating sites.

Oh, I'm sure he does... while typing one handed.

...Raymond started confronting these men at malls and fast food joints with cameras rolling, later posting the videos and chat logs online

Oh that's good. Convict them in the court of public opinion before any charges are even laid against them. I smell a slander lawsuit here.

His site even includes a legal disclaimer: "All persons portrayed are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law," it reads. "We make no assertions of guilt and provide our viewers with content within the limits of Section 309 of the Criminal Code of Canada."

No assertions of guilt? Really? I would consider confronting a person in a public place with your "evidence" an assertion of guilt.

This guy, and people like him are doing more harm than good. These antics of theirs could end up botching an already ongoing police investigation and costing the police a conviction, for starters. Also, the accused should be entitled to the same privacy as the alleged victims, since if they don't receive that privacy, they are convicted in the court of public opinion before they ever go to an actual court. So even if a court finds them not guilty, they will still be stigmatized for the rest of their lives because of the publicity given before the trial. The accused should also not have to be subjected to this kind of public humiliation, when it has not been legally proved that they have done anything wrong. In the case of chat logs and pictures sent over the internet, the accused's guilt certainly does seem pretty cut and dried, there doesn't seem to be any way to get out of that one. But that's not the point. The point is, our legal system does not work that way. The accused needs to be properly charged by legally authorized police officers, not this tattooed wannabe with the inferiority complex, and then the accused needs to stand a proper trial, and face conviction or acquittal. That's how our legal system works. I don't like paedophiles any more than most people, and I certainly don't think they deserve any special treatment. And that's not what I'm advocating here. I'm advocating the treatment that the law prescribes, which is not what people like this guy are providing.

And I might add, he's probably hoping articles like the one on vice will get him enough publicity for a reality TV show.

~Mahalo~