Man charged after alleged paedophile ‘sting’ in Omagh

UNSAVOURY scenes unfolded in an Omagh housing estate earlier this week when a team of so-called ‘paedophile hunters’ performed a sting on a local ‘target’.

A man in his 40s was charged following the incident which saw a vigilante unit confront an alleged sex offender in Shandon Park, before police arrived and made an arrest.

He appeared in Strabane Magistrates Court today.

Much of the incident was streamed live on social media by members of the group, understood to be Belfast-based, who go by the name ‘Children and Survivors Online Protection Team NI’.

The footage, which at the time of writing has been viewed over 25,000 times, shows a man backed against a wall, as those behind the camera ask him questions about alleged inappropriate online behaviour with what the hunters claim he believed to be a 13-year-old child.

Speaking with the UlsterHerald in the aftermath of the unsettling drama, a local resident said, “It must have lasted for about three hours altogether. There was about a dozen people out watching it, but not everybody seemed to know what was going on at the start.”

The worried resident went on to characterise the whole ordeal as ‘scary’, describing how she no longer feels safe in the once-idyllic park.

“To be honest, it’s scary; we just don’t know who is living around here anymore.

“There are people coming and going from the flats all the time. We don’t know if they are paedophiles, drug dealers, just out of jail, or whatever else.

“I have lived here long time, but I have never seen anything like what happened on Tuesday night.”

A PSNI spokesperson said, “A 43-year-old man, arrested in the Omagh area on Tuesday, April 16, has been charged with attempted sexual communication with a child.

He is due to appear before Strabane Magistrates’ Court today, Thursday, April 18.

As is usual procedure, all charges will be reviewed by the Public Prosecution Service.