Sex sting

The officer contacts a suspected child predator online and subsequently arranges a face-to-face meeting with them at an agreed location, where an arrest will be made.

[2] Sex stings operated by vigilante groups are conducted by chatting with a suspect on the internet and then arranging a real-life meeting with them.

[3] Some scholars have pointed out that online sex stings conducted by people other than law-enforcement are laden with legal, ethical and moral problems.

Common criticisms of vigilante conduct include that it hinders police work, compromises official investigations and may result in innocent people being misidentified as perpetrators.

Among other differences, undercover law enforcement officers and vigilantes posing as minors are more likely than real victims to be open to online sexual behavior and request real-life meetings.

[5] A high-profile report published by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University stated that the majority of sexual solicitation that teenagers receive online come from peers and or adults aged 18 to 21.

[6] A study published in 2005 classified its sample of online sting offenders as mostly white, male, educated, employed, aged 35 and having no criminal record.

[8] In a study published in the 2020s that examined online sting offenders, the most people in the sample had brought sex paraphernalia to the meeting place.