...if you're going to form a meaningful opinion. you really have to have a look at the site and read a few cases in order to have a real idea of what they're doing here.
the site i'm talking about is www.perverted-justice.com -- called PEEJ for short.
people seem to have passionate feelings about these folks, either positive or negative.
i'm curious: what do you think of this group, what they're doing, how they're doing it, etc.?
basically, PEEJ is a group of adult volunteers who hang out in local chatrooms (all across the USA and in the UK as well i think) and pretend to be underage (15 or younger). when an adult "pervert" contacts them to chat, and when that chat turns into an attempt at that "perv" meeting the "child" for the purpose of having SEX with said "child," the "perv" finds himself and the whole damning, embarrassing log of that chat plastered on the front page of the PeeJ site -- with photo when possible (and it often is) -- for all the world to see.
the goal of this all-volunteer group is to put an end to adult "perverts" preying on children online -- setting up dates to have sex with them, often offering them alcohol and drugs as well.
you can read more about their mission and the particulars on the site, but that's the gist of it.
here are a few quick facts about the group, though:
PEEJ volunteers NEVER contact a perv first; the perv contacts them first.
PEEJ's (female and young-sounding) vols call up the pervs to confirm their dates, intentions, etc.; this is called voice verification, as many guys (and all but one has been male) later try to say that it wasn't them talking online, taking the call, etc.
PEEJ wants to stop *ALL* pervs from trying to molest kids that they ensnare online. there are straight and gay PEEJ volunteers, all with the same goal. there has (to my knowledge) been only one woman "perv" who tried to initiate a date with a "child" (peej volunteer), but PEEJ does not ignore pervs based on their sex or sexual orientation. if you're out to mess with a kid, you're fair game.
PEEJ does *NOT* take chat logs from other people. the volunteers are the ONLY ones whose chat logs appear on the page -- it's just too easy to set someone up; the volunteers are few but dedicated, well-versed in what they do, and are chosen to be chatroom "bait" after proving themselves for a long period of time as a lesser volunteer.
PEEJ is very willing to work with law enforcement, but they will not initiate contact with cops or the media.
PEEJ allows the accused perv the "right of reply" -- that is, the perv is allowed to write out a statement about his actions, and this is posted to the page as well.
so there's the story. i'm curious to know what you folks think of it all. would you ever consider being a PEEJ volunteer yourself? what do you think PEEJ should do with the info they collect, if anything? do you think PEEJ is positive or negative?