graham dockery
No arrests were made after a vigilante-style child protection group confronted an alleged paedophile in Athlone on Friday night, February 9.
The group confronted the middle-aged man at the bus station, where he was apparently waiting to meet a fictitious 14 year-old girl he had been in contact with online. Gardaí were called to the scene.
The group, Child Protection Awareness, recorded the encounter and posted it on their Facebook page, where it has been viewed more than 220,000 times.
In the video, the man, whose face can clearly be seen, remained calm as one of the group read his messages back to him. In the messages he had told the fictitious child that he wanted to “have a bit of fun” and “impregnate” her.
According to a statement on Child Protection Awareness’ Facebook page, Gardaí took a statement from the group, and took the man’s chat logs.
Athlone Gardaí are investigating all of the circumstances of the event.
