Who are The Hunted One paedophile hunters and how many paedophiles have the vigilante group caught?

A GROUP of parents have joined forces to create a vigilante team in a bid to snare people they believe to be paedophiles and sexual predators.

Their website promises: "We are The Hunted One, we will find you, we will expose you...."

Who are The Hunted One?

The Hunted One is a secret group is made up of parents.

They decided to set up their own network after realising "just how many sexual predators were online, with free reign, for their own sexual gratification".

The aim of the group is to seek out online groomers and to then name and shame them within public domains.

All evidence they come across and collect is sent on to the authorities, in order to get convictions.

The post pictures and videos of the people they have snared, and have a section of their website where people can see if they are living near a paedophile.

In February they released footage of would-be child abuser Neil Prior who was snared by the group.

In May, a court heard how pervert Ivor Gifford, 92, told cops: “I hope I die before this is out” after he became Britain’s oldest paedophile to be caught in a vigilante sting by The Hunted One.

A similar group called Dark Justice are a two-man operation who catch paedophiles.

How many people have The Hunted One caught?

The information posted on the group's website suggests they have arranged to met and catch 43 people to date.

Not all of these people have been convicted and some are awaiting legal action.

One man caught by the group, Mark McKenna, was convicted for five years after admitting one count of initiating, arranging or facilitating an act with the intention of engaging in a sexual activity with a child.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that McKenna had told who he thought was an 11-year-old girl he had the house to himself, and sent her a picture of an unopened condom and a video of him performing a sex act.

One The Hunted One's website, the group states: "We are moving forward in a positive direction, in our fight to combat child abuse & to save children from a lifetime of hurt and trauma.

"We patrol internet forums/social media, flushing out these sexual predators and forward all our evidence over to the authorities

"Sadly, we do have to experience vulgar and vile grooming, that's the negative part of the process but we are mentally prepared, as we have an ultimate goal in our sights for a positive outcome,we would prefer it be to us, than any child."

What do they authorities say about vigilante groups like this?

A pair of paedophile hunters went on Good Morning Britain to tell all about their experiences, and explained the techniques they use to snare those people who are trying to talk to and meet up with children.

When questioned about why they can't involve the police earlier on in their quest the vigilante hunters said: "The easiest way for us to do it is go there and meet them, and then we instantly call the police so we know the police are on the way."

But a former policeman joined in the debate on Good Morning Britain and said the women were untrained and not doing all the things they could be to help the situation.

He agreed that there are not enough officers to catch paedophiles, but thought the women and other groups could be brought in for training with the police.