Mr Edmondson, who did not want his face pictured, said that prior to the confrontation he had joined two dating sites. He said a woman had originally messaged him 'out of the blue' and they had texted each other in July. Figures also show that more than half of those prosecutions relied on evidence gathered by online paedophile hunters. Detective Chief Inspector Heather Thompson, who leads the county's Paedophile Online Investigation Team said: 'Keeping children safe is a top priority for Kent Police and significant resources are dedicated to tackling this issue. 'Finally, some of the people targeted by online child activist groups have had severe learning difficulties and other mental health issues and have been placed at significant risk.

Source: The Nation May 18, 2021 09:02 UTC