Terre des Hommes paedophile entrapment ads ‘not a good idea’: police

The police have criticised children’s rights organisation Terre des Hommes for its paedophile entrapment method, saying the results may be inadmissible in court, the Telegraaf reports.

Terre des Hommes is putting fake ads on sites in which a young girl offers sexual services and then reveals she is underage. If a respondent is still willing to have sex with the girl he is officially breaking the law, which was changed this year to include  intent as well as actual sex.

‘We then warn these men they are about to commit a crime and tell them to seek help, Terre des Hommes spokeswoman Saskia de Jong told the paper.

Terre de Hommes has given the details of five men expressing their intent to go ahead with sexual contact to the police. ‘If you are aware of a serious crime you are bound by law to tell the police, De Jong said.

The organisation says its approach is ‘pro-active’ and works as a deterrent for paedophiles. It also highlights the plight of children who are being exploited sexually and enables the organisation to build up case files of offenders.

Police work

But the public prosecution office has said Terre des Hommes is doing police work, as specified by law.  More investigation is needed and it needs to be done within the boundaries of the law. What Terre des Hommes is doing is not ‘a good idea’,  spokesman Wim de Bruin said.

Police spokes woman Suzanne van de Graaf told the paper Terre de Hommes is involved in investigations but that the organisation shouldn’t take on police tasks.  The results may not always be admissible in court because of the method being used, she said.

In 2013 Terre des Hommes launched a prize-winning campaign using a computer generated image of a ten year-old girl called Sweetie in a sting that identified some 1,000 paedophiles from all over the world.