police have confirmed they have arrested a Petersfield man after being alerted by self-proclaimed “hunting” group who describe themselves as volunteers “seeking online predators”.
The man was arrested after allegations he exposed himself and engaged in sexual communication with a ‘decoy’ volunteering with online hunting team Broken Dreams.
The 36-year-old man was arrested on May 10. The Broken Dreams team of digital vigilantes often carry out a citizen’s arrest on those suspected of targeting children online and hand them over to the police, but in this case officers themselves made the arrest.
A Broken Dreams spokesman said: “We are a voluntary online hunting team and our aim is to stop online predators who target children via chat sites and apps.
“We have a number of decoys who create profiles of children on child- specific chat sites. We do not target – to do that we would have to initiate contact. We don’t – we literally sit and wait for contact.
“In general, the people we confront have actively gone into a children’s chat room to seek out an under-age child. We use only sites specifically made for children.”
A police spokesman said: “We can confirm a Petersfield man has been arrested in connection with engaging in sexual communication with a child.
“He was released on police bail as enquiries continue.”