Innocent gay couple ‘traumatised’ after being falsely accused by vigilante paedophile hunters
Stock image from Pexels (L) and image from Yorkshire Child Protectors (Facebook)
A gay couple has opened up about the trauma they experienced when a vigilante group publicly accused them of being paedophiles.
Ben and his partner Jordan drove to Hull in England on Monday where they were pulled from their car by the vigilante group who broadcast the “arrest” live on social media.
The group – who call themselves Yorkshire Child Protectors – showered the couple with homophobic abuse and called them “p*ffs” and accused Jordan of being a paedophile, Mail Online reports.
The couple have not revealed their full names to protect their anonymity. While the group has since apologised for identifying the wrong person, the couple are still afraid of possible backlash.
Innocent gay couple are ‘disgusted’ over vigilante arrest.
“That video was viewed by more than 30,000 people – 30,000 people aren’t going to see their apology,” Ben told Mail Online.
“We are disgusted by the whole thing. Our lives have changed – we are scared.”
The group reportedly received incorrect information that said one of the gay men had offered to teach a minor to masturbate. They then went to Jordan’s sister’s workplace where they “manipulated” her into confirming that a low-quality image of a man was her brother.
That video was viewed by more than 30,000 people – 30,000 people aren’t going to see their apology.
She was then instructed to ask her brother to travel four hours by car so they could ambush him.
Upon arrival at his sister’s address, the vigilante group pulled the couple from their cars, separated them and took their phones.
But it became apparent that the group had made a mistake as they were still receiving messages from their actual target after they had confiscated the men’s phones.
The group apologised for their mistake.
The group posted an apology on Facebook in which they said they were “heartbroken” over their mistake.
“We at [Yorkshire Child Protectors] take responsibility for our part played in these innocent men being arrested but we won’t be taking all the blame.”
The group went on to claim that they had been relying on incorrect information from elsewhere.
“I will personally be sending them a message with a sorry that we messed up on our part. We will also offer any help to undo this mess that’s happened.
“We as a team won’t be involved in drama but we do accept that we should have done more research on these innocent men.
“We are truly sorry to the innocent men and again they will both receive a personal inbox from myself.”
Meanwhile, Ben and Jordan are reportedly afraid to leave their homes and are afraid to go to work over the incident. They said they are taking legal action against the group.
