A distressed mum has revealed that she and her teenage daughter received rape threats after her father became the target of paedophile hunters.
Lesley Henderson was horrified when a friend alerted her to a video posted on Facebook showing her beloved dad Michael Duff being confronted about his intentions to meet a 15-year-old girl.
“A friend [messaged] ‘I don’t really know how to say this to you Lesley but there’s a video going round on Facebook. It’s your dad.’ And then I saw the video,” she told the Victoria Derbyshire show on BBC2.
“I sat in shock and must have been screaming because my daughter, who was 15 at the time, was upstairs and came down.
“She asked me what was wrong and – I have to live with the fact for the rest of my life because I wasn’t thinking straight – I said, ‘Your granddad’s a paedophile’ and I showed her the video.
“I could already see mutual friends had viewed it and there was nothing I could do.”
Lesley never spoke to her father again because, two days after voluntarily going to police, he took his own life.
She spoke of how close they had been, explaining tearfully: “We used to chat about anything and everything; he was the person I would go to if I was upset, all I would want was a cuddle off my dad.
The Victoria Derbyshire show has uncovered at least seven more cases of men who have killed themselves, before any prosecution, after being the target of paedophile hunter stings.
Lesley is speaking out to warn of the wider implications.
“The reality is [my dad] may not have actually committed any crime at all,” she said.
“We don’t know because as soon as he committed suicide the case was closed.”
Lesley’s been left with questions she’ll never get answers to. She said: “How did my dad do anything like that? How was my dad associated with that? He had a grandchild the same age.”
She added: “I didn’t want to ever tell my story because I didn’t want to bring it all back on myself.
“[But] it’s getting to a point now where people do need to know that when they’ve posted that video on Facebook, while that’s where it ends for them, that’s not where it ends for us [the families].”
“You have to deal with other people’s reactions to it… and that’s where the real fun begins.
“I’ve had threats, threatening to rape me and my daughter.
Someone even uploaded a video of her father’s dead body on Facebook and tagged Lesley in it.
“‘Just look, there’s another one dead.’ It’s still my dad.”
While some paedophile hunters do work with police, handing over their research and information, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) states they can undermine police investigations with poor evidence.
If you or someone you know is troubled by suicidal thoughts contact, Samaritans on 116 123 or [email protected].