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Predatory Podcast: Elderly woman fights paedophiles through her vigilante website

She is a “little old lady with a cane” — but has made it her duty to expose sick creeps who want to stay hidden. Warning: Distressing

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A “little old lady with a cane” is among a growing number of Australians who are fighting to expose paedophiles.

For years, Ms H, who keeps anonymity after being threatened by predators, ran a website publishing the names, pictures and offences of mainly Australian men convicted of sex crimes against children.

Her site is free - but a number of others offer a pay per view service of up to $10 a month.

One boasts of having 3405 offenders in “any suburb in Australia” to search in, and claims to donate money to abuse survivors.

Their reach is being amplified through popular TikTok accounts that have attracted thousands of likes and comments.

Ms H’s identity is a closely guarded secret – to look at her you would never know she has a dossier on many of Australia’s worst sex offenders.

“I do keep it pretty much to myself, very few people know. I’m a little old lady with a walking stick,” she said.

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Her motivation is helping people discover the truth about people they meet in their daily lives, who have a history they want kept hidden.

“You get the ones who prey on family and do six months in jail and come out and start a new family, I’ve seen that happen time and time again,” she said.

She spends her summer updating her files of sex offenders.

“The end of last year, when I updated I had 12,000 names of rapists, child sex offenders and people who access child exploitation,” she said.

“I’ve also never taken money for this, it goes against my grain.”

But the work comes with risk — she was at one point a direct paedophile target.

“One of their partners made up a site and actually had a bounty on me,” she told News Corp.

Ms H now does private work, usually for people who contact her and ask about someone they’re suspicious of.

Sometimes because of court orders she can’t say much.

“I email back and say ‘I wouldn’t have anything to do with that person’ or if I can, I’ll give them the information.”

Ms H said Australians would be shocked to learn how many offenders were living near them.

“I say to people for everyone on that website there are probably 1000 others out there that aren’t on it.’

If victims were treated better there would be less need for secrecy, which allowed offenders to fly under the radar.

‘We can’t name a paedophile because you identify the victim. Well, maybe if society treats victims better, they would be more receptive to having the perpetrators named.”

For more details about the Predatory podcast, go to predatory.com.au

If you have a story to tell, email us at crimeinvestigations@news.com.au

Originally published as Predatory Podcast: Elderly woman fights paedophiles through her vigilante website

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Original URL: https://www.themercury.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/predatory/predatory-podcast-elderly-woman-fights-paedophiles-through-her-vigilante-website/news-story/c9e177f5cf00a1e4c474803faa180071