A 42-year-old man from the UK was confronted and caught by Dark Justice, a vigilante group that tracks down paedophiles online.
Caught red-handed
Simon Bagley, believed that he was going to meet a 13-year-old girl named Charlotte. But as it turns out, Charlotte was just one of many dummy accounts that Dark Justice uses in order to entrap paedophiles.
Bagley met "Charlotte" at a social networking site called Hi5. And he started messaging her through the site. Through the messages, Bagley allegedly asked "Charlotte" if she wanted to have sex. In another message, Bagley asked her if he can take her virginity. He also asked if he could take a shower with her and asked her for photos.
When police asked Bagley what he was doing, he said that he only wanted to warn Charlotte about the dangers of meeting up with strangers.
“He is pathetic and vulnerable"
A hearing in court made Bagley's intentions very clear. According to prosecutor Christopher Rose, he said that "her age was not a problem."
During the hearing, Bagley's defense attorney told the court that “He is pathetic and vulnerable. It was an attempt to meet a girl under the age of 16. He was working but had not for a number of years – he has now worked up a debt of £4000.”
The judge, Paul Sloan, sentenced him to 12 months in prison, suspended for 2 years and he was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for five years. The judge also gave Bagley a 60 day rehabilitation order.
Keeping your kids safe online
With all the new social media sites and access to the internet becoming more and more common all over the world, more and more sinister people are using the internet to take advantage of children.
According to an article by The Guardian, here are some tips to keep your children safe online:
- Start them young. At an early age, teach your kids to keep themselves safe online. Kids that use the internet keep getting younger and younger, so it's best to start them as soon as they are able to use a computer or a mobile device to access the internet.
- If you won't do it in real life, don't do it online. As a general rule, if there's something that you won't do online, like talk to strangers, then you should never do it online.
- Teach them to be wary of strangers. Same as in real life, they should never entertain any offers from strangers. These people might tempt them with toys, games, or other things, but make sure to inform your child of the risks.
- As much as possible, don't let them browse alone. This is especially true for younger children. Make sure to be right beside your child when they're browsing the internet. That way you can guide them and teach them if in case they encounter something that's not age-appropriate.
- Do your best to know what your kids do online. While knowing what your kid does online is important, you also need to be sure not to spy on your child. Spying on your child means that you don't trust them, and it may cause them to hide more things from you as they grow up.
- Become friends on social media. It's okay to be friends with your child on social media. Just make sure not to "stalk" your children. A healthy trust between the both of you is very important.
- Safety rules in the real world apply online as well. This is a good general rule to follow. Any rules of safety that you follow in real life would also apply to the online world as the interactions that people have online nowadays mirror the interactions in real life.
Sources: Yahoo Australia, The Sun, Dark Justice