Man gets wrongfully arrested after paedophile steals his identity to groom underaged girl

An unnamed man from South Wales had his reputation wrongfully tarnished by paedophile hunter group Scorpion Hunters United Kingdom. Instead of finding a man named Stephen Price, who had been using a fake identity, the paedophile hunters ended up confronting the man whose identity had been stolen. Since December 2019, the details of the innocent man were made public and he was branded a paedophile. Finally, his name was cleared when Price was tracked down and arrested in February this year. The actual culprit has now been jailed for three years.

Just before Christmas last year, the man who has been named in court as Male A, was confronted outside his home by four members of Scorpion Hunters UK. The confrontation took place in front of the man's elderly mother. The man refused to have any knowledge of what he was being accused of. He eventually called the police. South Wales police ended up arresting the man.

The innocent man remained in police custody for 36 hours and was released on bail before Christmas eve. His harassment did not end there. He was targeted for being a paedophile on social media. He was unable to meet his son for Christmas as he was under suspicion.

The harassment Male A faced was because his photograph and name had been used by Price on an adult dating site to groom an under-aged girl. The identity thief had been communicating with a profile he thought to be that of a 14-year-old girl named Talia since September 2019. In reality, members of Scorpion Hunters UK were pretending to be the teenager. Price shared indecent images and videos with Talia even after she revealed she was 14.

The paedophile hunters had set up a meeting date and place with Price. When he did not turn up, they tracked down Male A using his name and pictures.

Male A was branded a paedophile until Price contacted Talia again in February this year. The actual paedophile was eventually tracked down and arrested. The 53-year-old from Barry, Wales appeared in Cardiff Crown Court for his sentencing. He told the court that he stole the identity of Male A as he was more attractive. He said that he wanted to apologise to the innocent man for the harassment he faced.

According to Barry & District News, Judge Nicola Jones condemned the actions of the paedophile hunter group. She jailed Price for three years for six grooming offences, committed between September 2019 and February. He also has to be registered as a sex offender for life.