Leyland man, 46, snared by paedophile hunters in Lancaster and arrested on suspicion of sexual grooming
A man was confronted by volunteers from online child protection group North West Hebephile Hunters in Lancaster at 6.45pm yesterday (July 7).Lancashire Police confirmed a 46-year-old had been arrested.
The group, who claim to have helped capture more than 300 alleged paedophiles operating online, broadcast the arrest live on Facebook.In the video, a man is confronted by the group in a car park after he had allegedly agreed to meet a 12-year-old girl he had been speaking with online.However, the 'girl' was a member of the group posing as a child.
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Hide AdWATCH: This is the moment paedophile hunters confronted 46-year-old man who believed he was meeting a 12-year-old schoolgirl In the video, the man is detained in the car park by a number of the group's volunteers and placed under citizen's arrest.During the 37-minute live broadcast, the team grilled the man on whether he had engaged in explicit conversations of a sexual nature with a vulnerable child.He was then shown transcripts of the alleged conversations between himself and the decoy.Lancashire Police were called to the scene and a man is seen being arrested and taken into custody.A spokesman for Lancashire Police said: "A 46-year-old man from Lancaster was arrested on suspicion of sexual grooming and remains in police custody."The broadcast was viewed by 57,000 people with more than 1,000 people sharing the live footage.North West Hebephile Hunters are a team of hunters and decoys who help to protect children online and spread awareness of the dangers associated with young people using social media.