A 51-year-old man has been arrested by police after a paedophile hunter group alerted them to him.
Dyfed-Powys Police received allegations from a Wales-based online predator hunter group about a man in the Swansea area.
The man was arrested in Eastgate, Llanelli on Sunday, September 8 after allegedly arranging to meet a child. Officers arrested him on suspicion of meeting a child following grooming.
Self-named paedophile hunter groups use tactics such as posing as children online and arranging to meet alleged predators in an attempt to expose predators and offenders.
Evidence from these groups are continuously being used to aid police but have also been met with criticism.
In May 2019 police chief Simon Bailey, who leads the country’s response to child sexual abuse, criticised the groups saying: "I can't deny they've led to convictions, but they've also led to people being blackmailed, people being subject of GBH, the wrong people being accused, people committing suicide as a result of interventions, family lives being completely destroyed, in the name of what? Facebook likes."
What do paedophile hunters do?
The arrest comes just days after Swansea Crown Court heard a 45-year-old man from Llanelli took condoms and lubricant to meet a 13-year-old girl he had been speaking with online.
A spokeswoman for Dyfed-Powys Police said: “On Sunday, September 8, Dyfed-Powys Police received allegations from a group in respect of a man in the Swansea area, which related to offences involving children.”
“Officers arrested a 51-year-old man on suspicion of meeting a child following grooming, at Eastgate Llanelli, on September 8. The man has been bailed from police custody with conditions.”
