One of the men caught in the ‘sting’.

Cameron East calls himself the Coffs Coast Pedo Hunter, and poses as a 14-year-old girl online and waits for paedophiles to talk to him.

At the start of the conversation, he tells the men he’s a 14-year-old girl, but the one’s who don’t care are the ones who become Mr East’s prey.

He organises to meet the men around Coffs Coast and confronts them.

While accusing them of being paedophiles, Mr East will film them and later upload the video to YouTube.

He has posted five videos online since September and does not conceal the identity of any of the alleged paedophiles.

Mr East is a father on the dole and an ex-criminal, who decided to become a vigilante after seeing other similar operations overseas.

In one video posted to YouTube on December 6, Mr East confronted a Taree man.

The Taree man began talking to Mr East after they met on an online dating site. They continued to chat and send obscene photos even after Mr East claimed to be a 14-year-old girl.

The man thought he was talking to a 14-year-old.Source:YouTube

The message exchange.Source:YouTube

The Taree man was shaking as Mr East produced a log of their conversation.

“Do you always talk to little girls like this? This is a 14-year-old child mate,” Mr East said.

“How many you talking to?”

He tried to deny he was talking to a 14-year-old girl — but when Mr East revealed it was him the whole time the man stopped arguing.

In the conversation log were naked pictures of the man and photos of his genitalia.

One message he allegedly sent said, “I want to see underneath your clothes. I’ve shown you my bits, can you show me yours?”

“Do you really think that’s f***ing acceptable,” Mr East said to the Taree man.

“You’re going to get arrested today.

“You’ve f***ed up. You’re lucky the boys in the car next to you aren’t jumping on your f****ing head.

“We’re going for a walk up the street. Going around the corner to the pig pen.

“I hate c***s like you hey, I’d f***ing love to run you over in a car.”

One of the men Mr East chatted with.Source:Supplied

Mr East told the 24-year-old man he was going to post the video on social media.

He then walked him to the police station where he was arrested.

On December 4 Mr East posted a video of his meeting with another man.

He claimed he was drunk when he started talking to the young girl, but Mr East would not accept that as an excuse.

The man was waiting at a park, thinking he was meeting a 14-year-old girl, not the Coffs Coast Pedo Hunter.

He had sent Mr East messages asking for pictures, despite Mr East claiming to be a shy 14-year-old.

On September 19, Mr East confronted another man in a shopping centre.

The man told the pedo hunter, who he thought was a 14-year-old girl, he would be at the shops wearing a Holden shirt.

Mr East told him he would be in a school uniform. When the pedo hunter approached him, he claimed his name was James and Mr East had the wrong person.

However Mr East produced the pictures from his Facebook page and the conservation he’d been having with the 14-year-old girl.

A man makes plans to meet the ‘14-year-old’ at a shopping centre.Source:YouTube

Mr East pursued him as he left the shopping centre.

He called him a “rock spider” and told people in the street he was a “pedo”.

Mr East has been hailed both a hero and a villain for his “pedo hunting”.

Online he’s been dubbed a “legend” and people have said he is delivering “true community service”.

But police have said he could hinder investigations.

“Unfortunately the actions of this person, however well meaning, does not assist NSW police in our causes,” a police spokeswoman said.

“Our detectives in this state and in particular in this command are highly trained and capable of understanding the laws and rules around evidence, how to obtain that evidence, so that it is admissible in a court of law. Our focus in this command in relation to suspected paedophiles is about catching them and putting them before the courts. This type of vigilante behaviour ignores those rules of evidence so ... it puts at strong risk the capability for us to obtain a prosecution or conviction in the future.

“I have concerns over mistaken identities, people using other people’s social media accounts, identity theft and fraud, cloned accounts, all these could mean an innocent person is publicly humiliated.”

Durham University criminologist Graham Hill and criminology professor David Wall wrote for The Conversation about how vigilantes could affect the work of authorities.

“The vigilantes justify their actions by exposing offenders and passing the information they collect on to police,” the academics wrote.

“They also cite the fact that their actions have been pivotal in convicting a number of offenders that otherwise would not have been brought to justice.

“But the admissibility of the evidence obtained by these groups in a court of law can be questionable. It often lacks the necessary continuity and conclusive proof of wrongdoing required to secure a successful conviction. Of course, this fact further frustrates the vigilantes and justifies their approach in their own minds.”

The academics said the real question was whether or not the “paedophiles” would turn thoughts into actions.

“One school of thought is that by their actions, such individuals clearly have a sexual interest in children and given time and opportunity they will inevitably commit a contact sexual offence. Another is that they are simply sharing a fantasy that few will ever act upon,” they said.