Eight men ‘unmasked’ by online paedophile hunters killed themselves, investigation finds

New research has found that at least eight men publicly exposed as paedophiles subsequently killed themselves.

An investigation for the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme found that the men took their own lives after they were ‘unmasked’ by paedophile hunters.

Videos of them were shared on social media, which their families believe were behind the suicides.

One of the men, Michael Duff, was exposed in 2015 and killed himself two days after handing himself in to police.

His daughter, Lesley, says she now faces rape threats against her after her father was snared in a trap by paedophile hunters who fooled him into thinking he was meeting a 15-year-old boy.

Lesley told Victoria Derbyshire: ‘My friend said, ‘Look, I don’t really know how to say this to you Lesley, but there’s a video going round on Facebook – it’s your dad’.’

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She told her 15-year-old daughter: ‘Your granddad’s a paedophile.’

The pair never spoke to Duff again.

Lesley said she has now decided to talk so that the paedophile hunters understand how their actions can affect not only the men they target, but also their families.

However, Jamie Lee, 29, who describes himself as a ‘child protection enforcer,’ defending the actions of paedophile hunters, saying they are performing a public service.

Commenting on the video of a man named Robert, who killed himself after getting out of prison when he was exposed as a paedophile, Me Lee said: ‘My goal is for these men to face what [they’ve] done.

‘I was devastated when I found out Robert had killed himself, more so for his family.’