Evidence provided by groups known as "paedophile hunters" have been used in more than 250 prosecutions in the UK last year, it's been revealed.
Members of the groups pose as children online to lure and confront suspected child sex offenders, according to the BBC.
Predator Exposure, which was established in West Yorkshire, claims to have exposed more than 30 suspected paedophiles since the group was established in 2016.
Members of the group, posing as teenagers, wait for suspects to approach them online before confronting them and filming the encounter.
"This is all about saving kids, letting people know who lives next door to them, so I think it's a big achievement the amount of convictions we've had," founder Phil Hoban said.
Mr Hoban said the group was established over concerns the police were not doing enough to stop the crimes.
"All I can say is, 'Go out and do your job so we don't have to do it'," he said. "If we can catch them, why can't they catch them?
"I have much better things to do with my time but this is part of my life."
The BBC found that out of 42 police forces in England, Northern Ireland and Jersey, 403 people were prosecuted last year for attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming. Of that number, 252 cases involved evidence from paedophile hunters.
However, police have since raised serious concerns about similar vigilante groups, arguing that the controversial technique could put investigations at risk.
The National Police Chiefs' Council lead for online child abuse activist groups, assistant chief constable Dan Vajzovic, warned that some of the group members were "perpetrating offences including extortion, blackmail and exhibiting violence against those that they are targeting".
Mr Vajzovic said that the groups are acting in their own interests, not those of the children. He suggested the group members were more intererested in "their self-aggrandisement and their desire to exercise force against so-called perpetrators of child abuse".
"They don't put in measures to safeguard children, they don't put in measures to identify other offenders who may be connected to the people they are targeting," he added. "They're more interested in putting a video online of them carrying out a sting."
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