Балаларды қорғау үшін күрескен «Perverted Justice» ұйымының тарихы

Former anti child porn group in California and Oregon, US
the legal term

Perverted Justice Foundation, Inc., more commonly known as Perverted Justice (also known as PeeJ), was an American organization based in California and Oregon which investigated, identified, and publicized the conduct of adults who have used chat rooms and other social media in order to solicit online sexual conversations and in person meetings with minors. Their website serves as an archive of collected data on these investigations, which they make available in order to assist law enforcement and the public in understanding the behavior and child grooming techniques of online hebephiles. The activity of the Perverted Justice organization included online volunteers carrying out sting operations by posing as minors (the age range portrayed by the decoys is usually 10–15) on chat sites and waiting for adults to approach them. After obtaining the identifying information of the adults who are seeking sexual contact with minors (the adult seeking the minor may offer their telephone number or other details so that a meeting can be arranged), the organization would then pass the information on to law enforcement. Perverted Justice's methods are controversial, and critics have labeled these actions harassment and possibly legal entrapment. The site additionally attracted media attention, both laudatory and critical, as a result of their collaboration with Dateline NBC on a series of televised sting operations called To Catch a Predator. Perverted Justice also operated a site that targets groups and individuals it identifies as being involved in the pedophile activism community, a site that provides information to abuse victims on their legal recourse, a site that gives advice to minors on dealing with grooming on the internet, and a site that targets organizations that Perverted Justice believes allow pedophile activists to use their services. The foundation also offers free online training to law enforcement officers and has an intern program for college students. In late 2018, Perverted Justice announced that, from the beginning of 2019, they would be formally ending decoy operations, and effectively cease all other operations afterwards. They also announced that they would be converting the official website to an archive of past operations and collected data, and removing other site features such as the forums. The data they proposed to compile and make accessible on the website, including thousands of formerly unseen chat logs, is available for research purposes in order to assist anti pedophile groups and law enforcement with regard to understanding the behavior and techniques of online pedophiles.

Perverted Justice was set up in 2002 by Frank Fencepost and Xavier Von Erck (born Philip John Eide). The organization says that its online operations have led to 623 convictions as of October 8, 2018, with over 200 more currently awaiting trial, and an average of 25 arrests a month for the year of 2006. The organization reported an annual income of $825,000 a year in 2006 with Von Erck earning a salary of $120,000. The site originally started with the posting of chat logs to shame people who engaged in sexual chats with purported children. Some members of the site allegedly went further by harassing the targets of their chats in real life, as well as their friends, neighbors, employers, and family. After a falling out over a vitriolic chat log with a phone verifier in 2004, Fencepost was dismissed from the site. "Xavier became much more oriented toward getting pedophiles arrested rather than just making them complete social pariahs in their neighborhood," says Fencepost. Von Erck said he got the idea for the website while watching people attempt to groom young girls in chat rooms in Oregon. He says Perverted Justice is a computer watchdog agency that works closely with law enforcement agencies. "The media likes to use the term 'vigilante' because it gets attention, but we don't consider ourselves vigilantes. We cultivate cooperation with police and work within the law to get justice, not outside of the law."

Perverted Justice functions by supporting volunteers who act as informants in chat rooms where minors can typically be found. The volunteers' public profiles have youthful sounding usernames, young ages, and pictures of children. The administrators of the site say they do not initiate online contact with the users, and refuse to act on tips from the public as a result. If a user starts chatting to the volunteer and turns the conversation to sex, the volunteer responds positively and encourages them to divulge personal details, particularly a telephone number, ostensibly needed to verify their identity so that a meeting can be arranged. In the past, around this point the chatlog and details would be published on the site. Volunteers on the site's forums would then engage in "follow up", attempting to identify and notify family members, employers, and neighbors. However, in December 2003, the organization set up its "Information First" program, in which interested police departments could contact Perverted Justice, and any "busts" made within that department's jurisdiction would be sent straight to them without being posted to the website. In the early days of the program, Perverted Justice. com did not initiate contact with the police, professedly because officers were skeptical that its information could be used in a court of law. Since July 2004 when they facilitated their first conviction, the site's operators switched to a policy of cold calling local police with the information they obtained. If a government agency is interested (police, FBI, military CID, etc.) then the chatlog and other information is not posted to the site until after a conviction has been reached. Before Perverted Justice's "Information First" program and cold calling policy became standard, logs that received no interest from law enforcement agencies were posted directly to the website. In November 2006, after the site's 100th conviction, Perverted Justice announced that chat logs would no longer be posted unless law enforcement was involved first, as "Information First" agreements were sufficient to cover most U. S. residents caught in a sting. The complete unedited chat logs, which usually contain sexually explicit content and obscenities (and sometimes are annotated with comments from the Perverted Justice volunteer) are now posted to the website only after the person's legal case has been resolved. The current follow up process consists of notifying a community of the offender's status once a person has been arrested and convicted. To begin the follow up process, the site's volunteers do a reverse directory lookup to obtain their target's name, as well as checking on the Web for any other information they can find about them. They then post the target's name, address, and photograph if available, on the website, as well as the chat log: a record of the conversation they had with the volunteer. In a process called "Follow up," additional volunteers on the site's forums, operating under rules and restrictions set up by Perverted Justice administrators, will contact the target's family, friends, neighbors, and employer to alert them to the website posting. All telephone numbers are removed from the site's main pages after two months (though still available on the site's forums), to avoid another case like that of the Milwaukee bank teller, who received a threatening phone call from a man who had obtained her number from the website. The woman had never been online or even owned a computer, and was forced to change her number, which had previously been registered to the subject of a Perverted Justice sting.

Volunteers also take part in what the site's operators call "group media busts," where people are invited to a house by a self proclaimed minor, who is actually a Perverted Justice volunteer. When they arrive, they are greeted by a television news reporter. The first of these events were conducted in late 2003, in co operation with investigative reporter John Mercure at Milwaukee's WTMJ TV, whom the site credits with initially conceiving the concept. Similar events with other local news organizations took place in the following months. In November 2004, the site teamed up with Dateline NBC in New York City to conduct a large sting operation, or "group media bust," entitled To Catch a Predator. Dateline rented a house and wired it with hidden cameras, while volunteers posed as minors in chat rooms, telling users who talked to them that they were home alone. "Within hours there were men literally lining up at our door," Dateline reported. In two and a half days, 18 men showed up at the house after making a date with a Perverted Justice volunteer. After the third installment of To Catch a Predator, Perverted Justice hired an agent and put the group's services out for bid to several television networks. NBC came out ahead and continued the highly rated series. Since then, the To Catch a Predator series of reports has grown into a widely recognized phenomenon, with busts all over the United States and numerous references and parodies in the media.

Perverted Justice's website documents convictions that include disorderly conduct, indecently soliciting a child, attempting to entice a juvenile to travel with intent to engage in sexual act, transporting child pornography, and possession and dissemination of child pornography. According to the official website, Perverted Justice contributed to at least 623 convictions while stating that the actual number is likely closer to 650.

Perverted Justice formerly ran a website targeting individuals and groups involved in the online pedophile activist community. The site's stated objective was to "house our voluminous research regarding the identities and pursuits of those in the pedophile activist community". It listed a number of arrests of pedophile activists that it stated were based on its profiles. They have also built a list of "corporate sexual offenders", which they define as "[a]ny company who is informed of pedophiles using their service to advocate the lifestyle of child/adult rape which then does not remove the pedophiles from their service", with corresponding lists of pedophiles who make use of the services.

Perverted Justice, as well as its volunteers, have been commended over the years by a number of individuals and organizations, including many active duty law enforcement officials and child safety advocates. The March 2007 issue of Law Enforcement Technology magazine covered Perverted Justice. com and their operations with law enforcement. "We have 2,000 sworn officers, and there is no way we have the resources to do what Perverted Justice did for the NBC Dateline sting (where 51 offenders were arrested in three days)," says Lt. Chad Bianco of the Riverside County (California) Sheriff's Department. "They had 45 people working around the clock." Those praising the site include the host of America's Most Wanted, John Walsh. He has said: "Well, I think it's great. My hat is off to Chris Hansen, to NBC, to the people at Perverted Justice for showing the American public repeatedly that the creep who preys upon our children could live next door. And he could be a rabbi, a school teacher or a priest or anybody. I think they've done a great job. Now that they've partners with law enforcement and they're putting these guys away, I think they've provided a tremendous educational tool to the American public." Child safety advocate Marc Klaas has come out publicly in support of Perverted Justice and the work they do, suggesting that they go from city to city with their efforts. "I think if you were to take this 'Dateline' piece and turn it into a regular program, where Perverted Justice and Chris Hansen or somebody else were to go from city to city to city on a weekly basis, you would create a real deterrent effect that would put some fear into the minds of these perverts." Child safety advocate Ross Ellis, founder and executive director of Love Our Children USA, sent out a press release praising the efforts of Perverted Justice, while sending a plaque to the organization. "We owe it to our children to keep them safe. The work that Chris Hansen, Dateline and Perverted Justice are doing should be a wake up call to every parent—because no child is immune from these predators. We are proud to present them with awards and express our gratitude for the courageous work they have done on behalf of children." Internet safety website ChildSeekNetwork set up a webpage praising Perverted Justice. "The Child Seek Network has come under fire by a Texas Organization because of our link to Perverted Justice web site. It is our belief that children's safety is of the utmost importance. Peej works very hard to see that children are safe on the internet from online predators. Although some of their methods seem harsh or controversial they get results, and have aided the police in getting convictions on those who prey on minors. Every child has a right to be protected and feel safe, we will continue our efforts and applaud Peej for the work they do to assist in that goal." A letter was sent from the office of Senator Orrin Hatch (R UT) to Perverted Justice praising their efforts, especially in regards to getting the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act passed. "The Efforts of Perverted Justice. com deserve a very special 'Thank you' from everyone interested in stopping the seduction and sexual attack on our children. NBC's Dateline has highlighted your efforts at catching sexual predators, using the internet to hunt the hunters. I believe these shows have directly impacted the timely passage of my bill. So I want to join Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist who acknowledged your efforts from the floor of the United States Senate the day the bill was passed. I want to say "Thank you" for your tireless efforts to stop sexual predators." Active duty law enforcement who have worked with the website on arrests have also gone on record speaking about the organization. Detective Mike Burns of the Darke County, Ohio Sheriff's Department commented on what Perverted Justice brought to the table, "It was just a miracle from heaven as far as meeting our needs because we are just struggling so badly to get things going that here it is. Here’s the answers for you." Sgt. Chad Bianco of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department in California said, "We were approached by Perverted Justice to do this large sting and they told us that 'Dateline' would be following along. We jumped at the chance." Police Chief Hilton Daniels of the Fort Myers Police Department wanted his department to learn how to do an online internet predator sting: "We decided 'Well, let's get a hold of Perverted Justice' and have them teach us how to do this operation." Officer Kevin Pineda of Flagler Beach, Florida was tasked by his department with researching Perverted Justice prior to using their services. Although the department "was a little wary at first", Officer Pineda indicates that his research revealed "[nothing but] overwhelming joy from other departments that have actually utilized their services." The Laguna Beach Police Department gave Perverted Justice administrators Del Harvey and Dennis Kerr an award for the sting they performed in their city. Speaking on the possibility of more sting operations, Lt. Matthew Stapleton of the Petaluma, California Police Department said: "[I]f we have the resources in the future, absolutely, we might do one. I don't think we would do a Dateline sting again, but we established a partnership with Perverted Justice, so they could help us, if necessary." He also commented, "Perverted Justice did everything, as promised. They were a perfect partner."

According to Von Erck, Bruce Raisley, a private pilot and software developer made graphic violent threats against Perverted Justice contributors and volunteers, and threatened to expose the online identities they used when posing as children. Raisley stated that he was a former Perverted Justice member who left the group after he discovered that Perverted Justice used a photograph of his son in a Perverted Justice decoy profile, and failed to get a swift response from law enforcement. Allegations were made that Von Erck had "set out to destroy [Raisley] by posing as a woman, seducing him online with graphic sex chats, posting the transcripts on the web, and threatening to release a purported video of the individual masturbating." Raisley was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay $90,383 in restitution for the attacks.

In late 2018, the official site announced that they would end active decoy operations at the start of 2019. In addition to formally ending the chat room decoy operations that they were well known for, Perverted Justice founder Xavier Von Erck announced that the organization would be suspending all active operations in 2019. The Perverted Justice website is no longer functional as of February 2024 in terms of viewing predators' chatlogs.