More people are following ‘pedophile hunters’ on social media – Kripos believes more violence is likely – NRK Vestland

There have been several recent incidents of violent attacks by private individuals on people they believe to be pedophiles. Videos of the attacks have been shared on social media.

Ole Jørgen Arvesen, head of joint operations services at Cripps, said: Such events will be seen in the future as well.

– This may be because we have not seen any signs that they will stop, and at the same time people are paying more and more attention to this phenomenon.

A 14-year-old boy has been charged with attempted murder after a man in his 50s was stabbed in a wooded area in Sognlust in June.

Ingeborg Grindheimslind/NRK

Six accused and one suspect arrested after stabbing in Luster

A man in his 50s has been charged with attempted murder and four teenagers have been charged with aiding and abetting grievous bodily harm. Stabbed in Luster Forest.

A 16-year-old has been charged with conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm during the planning phase and a teenager is also suspected of the same offence.

The offender was also accused of arranging for sexual activity with a minor.

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Five charged with deprivation of liberty in Agder

A man in his 40s was allegedly lured to a party by youths in Agder, where they filmed him, accused him of being a pedophile and posted a video of the incident online.

Five people aged between 16 and 19 have been arrested and He was charged with deprivation of liberty in early June.

Nils Fritjof Schumswall

Three teens charged in assault of man

In Vestfold and Telemark, three people aged 17 to 18 were charged with possession of Beating four men Oslo, Larvik and Porsgrunn.

The boys are said to have believed the men were pedophiles.

This was also filmed and shared online.

Pedokontoar’s followers are growing

In a short period of time, accounts on social media associated with so-called “pedophile hunters” gained many followers.

New accounts have also been created encouraging individuals to hunt down people they believe to be pedophiles.

Arvesen said Kripos is watching the situation.

– We noticed that these groups gained more followers or members after it became a phenomenon that received extensive media coverage.

An Instagram account associated with one of the pedophile networks gained more than 3,000 followers in a month.

Meanwhile, the Telegram channel gained nearly 5,000 followers in three weeks, and a TikTok account linked to the same network currently has around 8,000 followers.

Arvidson said it was difficult to tell whether followers were activists or just people curious about the phenomenon.

– The gain of more followers for these groups could lead to the legitimization of violence.

In addition, Arvidsson said police must use resources that could be used for other serious crimes to prevent and investigate crime in civil defense organizations.

Earlier this summer, Guro Skjerve, head of Kripos intelligence, said they Track the development of different types of crime, including Internet crime.

Kripos NRK learned earlier this summer that the Norwegian Police and the police districts responsible for prevention and investigation share information.

– Concerns about incitement to violence

Western District Police are leading the investigation into the Luster stabbing. They will hold more hearings and conduct digital tracking throughout the summer.

– Police attorney Kristine Knutsen-Berge said we are concerned about information about individuals encouraging the use of force.

She stressed that subjecting others to violence and threats is a criminal offence, even if those people are believed to have committed criminal acts themselves.

– Do they think this case is connected to other violent incidents?

– Mapping contacts with other people before the incident is part of our investigation. Knudsen-Berg said it was natural to work with other districts because the problem must be seen in context.