By Dr Alexandra Bailey

It’s easy to understand the appeal of watching someone caught in the act – particularly if that person intends to harm a child.

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We’re drawn to shows like To Catch a Predator because when it comes to protecting children, we can unite around a shared sense of morality and collective outrage.

This formula made the American television series To Catch a Predator a phenomenon in the early 2000s. Now, the new film Primetime, starring Robert Pattinson, revisits the controversial programme, which saw adults posing as children online to catch men seeking sexual contact with children.

Since then, this phenomenon has moved from television to social media. Across the UK, Online Child Abuse Activist Groups, more commonly known as vigilante groups, use similar tactics. They pose as children online, arrange meetings with adults, and publicly confront suspected offenders, broadcasting these encounters to thousands of viewers on platforms like TikTok.

But beneath the spectacle lies a question: does publicly exposing someone in this way actually make children safer?

As a forensic psychologist who has spent more than 20 years working with people who have committed online child sexual abuse offences, I understand the anger these cases provoke.........

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