This blog is originally appeared at LGBTQ Nation
Police are taking proactive measures against teenage gangs targeting gay men in “pedo hunts” in the Sydney area.
New South Wales (NSW) Police have been conducting multiple strike forces and investigations for almost a year, focusing on assaults across the city’s northern beaches, as well as its western and south-western suburbs, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Nearly a dozen coordinated attacks have been linked to mostly teenage gangs, though police believe the actual number is likely higher.
In each case, the victims were gay men who had arranged to meet someone from a dating app like Grindr in public parks. Instead of a consensual encounter, the men were ambushed by multiple teenagers who taunted, beat, and robbed them, sometimes using weapons. Several victims were coerced into falsely confessing to being pedophiles while being filmed, which led investigators to discover videos of the assaults online, including an Instagram account called “pedohunting_syd.”
The attacks and videos, which have spread on platforms like TikTok, are part of a growing trend known as “pedo hunting,” according to police.
Seven attacks occurred within five days in April, prompting police to form Strike Force Section to address the violence. On April 2, a 16-year-old was assaulted in a public park, and a 21-year-old was followed by four men in a car, who asked if he was gay or Muslim before attacking and robbing him and a friend.
At least five boys, aged 14 to 17, have been charged with assault, robbery, “corporal violence,” and possessing unauthorized firearms. Authorities are labeling the gang as a terror group.
A second unit, Strike Force Dividing, has made arrests in connection with similar incidents on Sydney’s northern beaches, charging 14 youths with assault and extortion.
In one case, a gang led by a 21-year-old was intercepted before they could carry out an attack. Another gang, including two juveniles and an 18-year-old leader, was apprehended while heading south out of Sydney.
Investigators have also linked a member of the “pedo hunt” gangs to the attempted murder of a far-right Christian preacher, who was repeatedly stabbed in front of his congregation. “Extremist material” was found on the 16-year-old’s phone, and he and six other individuals, who communicated through a group chat, were charged with terror-related offenses.
Historically, gay men in the Sydney area suffered violent attacks from the 1970s to the 2000s while police largely ignored the issue. The NSW government and police have since apologized for their failure to address these hate crimes and secure justice for the victims.
The recent attacks are being treated with the utmost seriousness, according to a police spokeswoman.
These incidents bear similarities to violent acts carried out by ultra-nationalists in Russia a decade ago, who used social media to lure gay victims to meetings, where they were harassed, beaten, humiliated, and forced to perform degrading acts with objects.
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