Ben and Jordan are considering legal action against the paedophile hunters

An innocent couple have spoken about the devastating impact a group of paedophile hunters had on them when they were confronted live in front of 30,000 people.

Ben and Jordan were called puffs and gay nonces in a tirade of homophobic abuse by Yorkshire Child Protectors (YCP).

They have spoken out to try and clear their names after Jordan was accused of being a paedophile, but the damage that their arrests has done has left them fearing for their lives.

Ben said: ‘That video was viewed by more than 30,000 people – 30,000 people aren’t going to see their apology. We are disgusted by the whole thing. Our lives have changed – we are scared.’




The paedophile hunters issued a grovelling apology yesterday saying they were heartbroken about what happened and offering help to ‘undo this mess that’s happened’.

The couple were wrongly arrested after paedophile hunters used a low quality picture to identify Jordan

They presented Jordan’s sister with a low-quality image and asked if it was her brother.

Ben told MailOnline that the group had intimidated the sister at her workplace, threatened her and manipulated her.

Members of YCP made her get her brother to visit her and when he arrived with Ben they were instantly separated by the vigilantes while police were called.

Both their phones were taken from them. It was then that the paedophiles mistake was realised – they were still receiving messages from their intended target.

Ben said: ‘The paedophile was still messaging their decoy while we were standing there and the police had our phones.’

Ben and Jordan say they were called puffs and gay nonces in a tirade of homophobic abuse by Yorkshire Child Protectors

The video has now been taken down, but it was shared widely and now Ben and Jordan are considering legal action against YCP.

Ben said: ‘The whole thing has been pretty traumatic and our lives will never be the same.

‘We understand why they do what they do but it’s not for them to do, it’s up to trained police officers. Jordan is so upset about the whole thing it really has affected him badly.’

In the statement, YCP revealed they had been acting on ‘intel’ received by an unnamed group and had ‘no reason not to believe’ they had the right men.

The volunteer group apologised in a statement (Picture: Screengrab of Yorkshire Child Protectors/Facebook)

The group admitted they should have done more research on the pair (Picture: Yorkshire Child Protectors/Facebook)

Humberside Police declined to comment on Monday’s arrests but the force has previously warned against online vigilante groups live streaming videos of their stings online.

The force described the acts as ‘extremely problematic’ and can create more problems than they solve.

Superintendent Alan Farrow said: ‘There can be nothing more important than the ongoing protection of our children but this has to be spearheaded by the police and other law enforcement agencies.’

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