Teens set online pedophile traps leading to four police arrests
The police arrested four men on suspicion of "grooming" - preparing an underage child to have sex with you. The arrests were made based on videos a group of Apeldoorn teenagers posted on YouTube, in which they filmed the men arranging to have sex with a 15-year-old boy, AD reports.
The videos show the men arranging to have sex with the boy, whose identity is not known to the police. The moment that the boy gets into the car, the other teenagers confront the man. In one recording the police were called in and the man's name was taken down. The other three suspects turned themselves in.
The suspects were extensively questioned before being released. Their computers and phones were seized for further investigation.
The police and Public Prosecutor in Oost-Nederland asked the Apeldoorn teenagers to stop making the videos on YouTube channel 'Betrapt'. According to the authorities, exposing suspected pedophiles like this could lead to a witch hunt. "There are big risks to what they are doing. Both for themselves and for the men they expose. Such a confrontation could spiral out of control and become dangerous", Public Prosecutor spokesperson Barbara van Heerde said to AD.
