Swiss teenage vigilantes use dating apps to lure pedophiles into violent ambushes – before they are caught and charged with their retribution

A group of teenage vigilantes took the law into their own hands and used dating apps to lure pedophiles into violent ambushes after police ignored their complaints about a schoolmate being groomed.

The students, aged between 13 and 18, from Lugano, Switzerland, were detained by police earlier this month.

They were detained on charges including grievous bodily harm, assault, coercion, robbery, false imprisonment and extortion.

The elaborate scheme was the brainchild of a 13-year-old boy who hatched a plan to use dating apps, such as Tinder, to track adults trying to meet minors.

It was created after local police allegedly ignored her complaints about the harassment of an underage girl by a man who sent her nude photos.

The city of Lugano in Switzerland (stock image). The elaborate scheme was the brainchild of a 13-year-old boy who hatched a plan to use dating apps such as Tinder to track adults in Lugano who were trying to meet minors.

After chatting with adults on dating apps, plans would be made via Whatsapp or Instagram to meet in person in parks or even apartments throughout the Swiss city. Once there, the unsuspecting targets fell straight into the group’s carefully prepared trap.

Conversations between the two were even shared without result, so the children found their own solution.

After chatting with adults on dating apps, plans would be made via Whatsapp or Instagram to meet in person in parks or even apartments throughout the Swiss city.

Once there, the unsuspecting targets walked straight into the group’s carefully laid trap.

The alleged pedophiles would first be greeted by an underage girl or boy, whose role was to persuade them to undress.

Once this was done, the group of teenagers converged on the location, kicking and punching the individual and, at the same time, urinating on him, spitting on him or shaving his hair.

The actions would have been recorded and sometimes shared with third parties. The group even considered broadcasting the events live on social media.

When interviewed by police, one of the teenagers said: “It all started when a 35-year-old man started harassing an underage friend of mine, sending her nude photos and asking her for sex.

‘We tried to make a complaint but we weren’t taken seriously, we even showed the chats to staff.’

Emphasizing that they knew they were breaking the law, the boy continued: ‘We know what we did was beyond the law. But we wanted to send a message.

The scheme was exposed after the conviction of a 49-year-old Italian man, on October 3, after being brutally beaten in the Besso area of ​​Lugano.

The scheme was exposed following the conviction of a 49-year-old Italian man on October 3 after brutally beating him in the Besso area of ​​Lugano.

In court, the man claimed he joined the dating app in search of his ‘soulmate’, but later admitted to having fallen in love with an underage boy.

He said: ‘He told me he was 14 and from that moment I started making mistakes.

“I can’t explain why I continued. I was stupid and it was wrong to come to Switzerland in the first place.

The man’s lawyer said his client “had the unfortunate fate of encountering boys who wanted to take the law into their own hands.”

He was given a 10-month suspended prison sentence, two years’ probation and a five-year ban from Switzerland.

The case is currently under investigation by the Juvenile Court, and criminal proceedings have also been opened against the teenagers involved, who are technically of legal age.