Stinson Hunter

Stinson Hunter (born Kieren Parsons, 10 October 1981), is an award-winning filmmaker best known for his documentary, "The Paedophile Hunter." The film investigating child exploitation was named "Best Documentary on a Contemporary Theme" in the 42nd British Documentary Awards, which "celebrates documentaries from Britain and abroad that "have made a significant contribution to the genre^[1]". The BBC, the jury of the awards, run by the Grierson Trust, praised the programme for its "provocative and confident" take on the issue.

The filmmaker has been recognized for his work and awarded the following honours:

• The Royal Television Programme Awards. Single Documentary. "The Paedophile Hunter" (2013-2014).
• BAFTA Television Award: Best Single Documentary. Directed by Dan Reed. (2015).
• BAFTA Craft Award Best Single Documentary. (2015).
• 43rd British Documentary Awards, Channel 4's Gogglebox series (2015).

In 2014 Hunter was interviewed on This Morning (TV programme), in which he explained his method for catching predators. He estimated he had instigated fifty-four convictions. In January of 2018, the BBC reported that "paedophile hunters had brought 77 incidents to police attention since June".^[2]The head of the PSNI public protection branch, Ch Supt Paula Hillman, responded to these figures, stating: "We do now have a small team of detectives within the public protection branch, across crime operations, who are looking at the cases that have been brought to our attention through these operations streamed on social media."^[3] The Belfast Telegraph reported that some of these incidents were consequently "targeted by the UDA".^[4]

According to The Guardian's report in April of 2018, evidence from paedophile hunters "was used to charge suspects 150 times in last year suspects in England and Wales on at least 150 occasions" in the previous year^[5] Additional figures obtained by the under freedom of information laws, the BBC reported that "there has been a sevenfold increase in the use of such evidence from 2015."^[6]

Controversy regarding these groups is a rising discussion associated with this film. Chief Constable Simon Bailey, from the National Police Chiefs' Council, said: "The increase in these groups is symptomatic of the increasing scale of child sexual abuse that police are dealing with. It reinforces the need for technology companies to do more to prevent offenders using their platforms to prey on children and for children to be educated about healthy relationships and staying safe online." ^[7]

The Guardian also published an article noting Ch Con Simon Bailey's statement, referencing Hunter's film, and reporting the estimated 10 active paedophile hunting groups in the UK.^[8] "While the police are critical of such groups in public, they privately provide advice and support on how to conduct stings. 'The police are like us. They’re human beings,' a member of a group said. 'They have families, so they understand what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.”^[9]

Jim Gamble, the former head of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, said of the online "paedophile hunter" groups: "I support the concept of digital detectives, ie volunteers working with the police - that's very different from unregulated people who have not been vetted, who have not been psychologically assessed going out there as if it's the wild west, being judge, jury and executioner."

Hunter's personal challenges, such as serious past issues with drink and drugs and prison term have been reported in editorial newspapers as well as tabloid newspapers.^[10]

Hunter currently heads up a three-man creative team composed of an editor, producer, cameraman and technical advisor. The team is "focused on creating thought-provoking investigative journalism that exposes the parts of society which we feel people need to see".^[11]

2018 - 2019 projects for Hunter and his team are:

"The Film They Tried to Ban" (Working title) (release date 2018) (In production/budget required)

"Hunter vs Hunters" (Working title) (est release date 2019) (Pre Production / acquiring budget)

"The UK's Forgotten People" (est release date 2019) (Pre Production / acquiring budget )

References

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