Paedophile hunting and 'Sweetie': the case for luring potential criminals?

Now we hear that a Dutch Charity, Terre des Hommes, has created a computer generated image of a 10 year old girl called Sweetie, as bait to encourage paedophiles to get visit a her 'chatroom'.

I take a look at the picture of this allegedly 10 year-old Filipina girl and I ask myself 'who is more sick, the promoters of this initiative or the men they stimulate to enter their fantasy world'? I ask myself, 'what possesses them to look at the world from the perspective of a child predator'? [...]

The director of this crusade, Hans Guyt [Guijt], has argued for a more robust campaign to nail the perverts. 'If we don't intervene soon, this sinister phenomenon will totally run out of control' he stated. But of course, what is totally out of control is Western society's compulsive fascination with the threat of paedophilia. Is it not enough that there are actually some predators that have actually committed a real crime? In any other domain of social experience incitement to an act that is considered to be a crime would be itself considered a criminal offence. But apparently not if it flushes out the would-be-paedophile. [...]

Internet sting operations such as this are likely to court injustices that can lead to tragedies. Recently a man committed suicide after a British based group of vigilantes accused him of being a paedophile and grooming a child on the internet.

source: Article 'Paedophile hunting and 'Sweetie': the case for luring potential criminals?' by Frank Furedi; www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/paedophile-hunting-and-sweetie-the-case-for-luring-potential-criminals-8922310.html; The Independent; 5 November 2013