“I want to stop every day but a little voice tells me that if a predator doesn’t talk to me, he’s going to see a child,” says “Neila Moore”, a mother who tracks down pedophiles on the internet. within a citizen network in France.
This housekeeper, herself a former victim, devotes herself to online hunting within the “Team Moore”, a group created in 2019 which has dozens of convictions to its credit. “Neila” is her pseudonym.
“There is no need to post yourself at the exit of schools armed with a packet of candy: the internet and its networks are such an easy gateway…”, deplores this 38-year-old Lyonnaise with red hair, who tells her story in a recently published book, “Predators are in your children’s pocket” (Editions Télémaque).
Four years ago, she became friends with “Steeve Moore”, a cyber-hunter from La Réunion, a French department in the Indian Ocean, who launched a call for mobilization on his blog, revolted by the impunity of hunters. children online.
A month later, she gives birth to her first avatar on Facebook – 13-year-old Lina. It’s a shock: dozens of adults show up. Among them, a predator advances after a few friendly exchanges. The first “customer” was hooked up and “Team Moore” was born.
The method is inspired by Anglo-Saxon collectives active in particular in England, where “half of the arrests of pedophiles are made by ordinary citizens”, assures “Neila”.
The modus operandi is immutable: creation of fake accounts of young teenagers with photos, stories, likes and various subscriptions. The magic of the algorithm works: very quickly, potential adult “friends” show up, then compromise.
“Several predators have explained in court that they have found their targets thanks to the suggestions of Facebook friends, who have never given an official explanation” on this malfunction, deplores “Neila”.
No incentive
The emergence of these citizen groups in France was initially coldly received by the authorities. Véronique Béchu, of the Central Office for the Suppression of Violence against Persons (OCRVP), had even declared them “outlawed” in 2020, pointing out the danger of their amateurism.
But “the condescending and mocking remarks” in the police stations are gradually fading. Several prosecutors or elected officials, such as Modem-Ensemble MP Maud Petit, have provided “precious support”. With the support of the latter, the “Team Moore” was received this week by the Minister Delegate for Digital Jean-Noël Barrot.
Surfing on strong media interest, the group, which today has around fifty hunters, receives many applications, which has led it to create an online platform to train some 1,600 cyber-trackers worldwide.
The “Team Moore” method is now proven, with a few obligatory passages such as credible life scenarios, accompanied by connections in line with those of adolescents in their content and in their frequency.
There are also pitfalls to avoid, such as incitement or identity theft. Otherwise, “the file falls into the water”, exposes “Neila”.
Today, his book presented in the form of a newspaper, must supplant the platform and serve as a manual for citizens wishing to get involved. While waiting for “the State to honor its promise to tackle online abusers more and for the penalties incurred by the latter to become more severe”, explains the mother of the family.
“Addictive and destructive”
Since its creation, Team Moore has submitted 130 cases to justice resulting in approximately 80 arrests and around 40 convictions in several countries. All without outside help. “We want to show that we can do something without means, that it’s a question of will”, underlines “Neila”.
But hunting predators can be grueling. If this woman with a slender physique says she is “armored” in the face of the sometimes very raw assaults of delinquents, she describes a daily life as “addictive as it is destructive” which “encroaches on (her) work and (her) private life”.
Today, she relies more on the team and keeps to the cuts demanded by her three children.
According to the Ciivise, an independent commission, 160,000 children are victims of incest or sexual violence each year in France. “Neila”, she hopes that one day “fear will change sides”.