Loophole that ‘vigilante paedophile catcher’ used to bust truckie Michael John Hartfield

Police have discouraged people from taking the law into their own hands after a Gold Coast father faced court when caught in a ‘vigilante paedophile catchers’ sting.

Police have discouraged people from taking the law into their own hands after a Gold Coast father faced court when caught in a “vigilante paedophile catchers” sting.

But police say they are also compelled to act when evidence of a crime is provided to them.

Michael John Hartfield was handed a sentence of 18 months’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for two years, when he faced Southport District Court on Tuesday.

He pleaded guilty to one count of using electronic communications to procure a child under 16 with a circumstance of aggravation.

The court was told the 36-year-old was using an adult dating website when he arranged to meet up with a fictitious 14-year-old girl named “Katie” for sex.

The court was told the Katie account was made by a “vigilante paedophile catcher” as part of a sting, but Hartfield was unaware of this.

The vigilante reported the incident to police, who investigated and later arrested Hartfield.

A police spokeswoman said the Queensland Police Service acted on all information and intelligence provided to it about suspected illegal activity.

“In saying this, it is not a regular occurrence for police to receive information from ‘vigilante paedophile catchers’,” the spokeswoman said.

“Community members should not put themselves and others at risk by taking part in potentially dangerous vigilante activity.

“This type of behaviour is discouraged because, however well-intentioned, a person may place themselves at unacceptable risk or jeopardise current police investigations.

Argos is a specialised unit within the QPS responsible for the investigation of online child exploitation and abuse.

“Methodologies employed by officers to secure the arrest of a person in regard to child abuse are varied and should remain covert to protect their effectiveness.”

People are being discouraged from taking the law into their own hands by becoming online vigilantes.

Former Queensland Law Society president Bill Potts said members of the public who try to catch people could be breaking the law and putting themselves in danger.

“Vigilantes, even those who are well meaning, may find themselves being charged with criminal offences because they are a party to somebody else committing an offence,” the respected criminal lawyer said.

“If you meet with the wrong person, you may find that they are armed or effected by drugs or have mental health issues which may expose the vigilante to extreme danger.”

Former Queensland Law Society president Bill Potts. Picture AAPImage/ David Clark

Police said in the case of Hartfield, they could not identify any laws that the vigilante involved had broken and therefore, no charges were put forward.

Bravehearts research director Carol Ronken said the child protection organisation preferred people focused on educating children about how to stay safe online.

“It is really tough because we 100 per cent understand why people want to do this and want to expose these individuals, but at the same time, there are so many risks,” Ms Ronken said.

“We should be leaving these types of activities to police who are trained, able to ensure evidence is able to be collected and not destroyed as part of these activities.”

For information on how to be safe online, visit: esafety.gov.au

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Originally published as Loophole that ‘vigilante paedophile catcher’ used to bust truckie Michael John Hartfield