Vulnerable Pärnu man targeted online after false 'pedophile' warnings
Posts which appeared on social media this week warning of a "pedophile" lurking in Pärnu turned out to be unfounded, Pärnu Postimees reported.
An anonymous poster had claimed the individual "lured children to look at a bike in the shed etc." in and near local parks and playgrounds; the original post was soon amplified via hundreds of shares, including in a "Märgatud Pärnus" ("Spotted in Pärnu") Facebook group, where commenters did not hold back on violent actions they claimed they would inflict on the individual.
The post soon caught the attention of the Police and Border Guard Board's (PPA) online section, leading to a closer investigation – which revealed that the individual identifiable from the post is a developmentally and socially subnormal man and is under care.
PPA Pärnu district group leader Karin Uibo said the man poses no threat or danger, even as his actions may understandably have aroused passions, and the authorities have been in contact with the man's carer, asking them to explain the situation to him in order to avoid future misunderstandings and conflicts.
Uibo said in all cases of potential suspicious behavior in public, the first port of call should always be the PPA, via the emergency number 112, to avoid a situation of people taking the law into their own hands and exaggerating, or sometimes also downplaying, the perceived threat, leading to undesired consequences.
This week has been a school vacation, and more PPA officers are on patrol in Pärnu than usual, precisely to safeguard young people, Uibo noted.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
Source: Postimees
