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There is a activist/vigilantly group called Creep Catchers who pretend to be underage children selling sex. Then when a pedophile agrees to meet in person, they show up with video cameras, broadcast it live, and basically get the person to admit he's a pedophile.

Recently there was a case where they did this to a disabled man and had initially pretended the girl was of age, but I don't want to discuss morality.

It's my understanding that it's illegal to slander a person on a very public scale and that public humiliation isn't allowed. By the Creep Catchers own description, their job is to publicly humiliate pedophiles using the internet (but I would suspect a lot of the tactics would count as entrapment). When is this sort of activity illegal?

There was another case where they knocked on a door and when the person answered they started aggressively accusing her of being a pedophile and broadcasted it. Whether or not it was true, she denied that she was and said someone else was pretending to be her online. Is this allowed?

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In Canada as in the US, truth is a defence against defamation. Additionally, if the plaintiff makes the statement, then the defendant didn't, and the plaintiff would have no basis for pursuing a person who managed to get him to defame himself. If the people were to accuse the person of committing a crime (sex with a minor), then the potential for defamation exists, if that accusation was communicated to a third person (excluding police -- you can accuse a person to the police). In that case, the defendants might attempt to prove that the accusation was true, but I don't know how they would show that. If all they could do is prove that the guy acted kind of pervey but that actually accused him of having sex with a minor, then they would probably be in legal hot water. If they accuse him of doing what he actually did, that is not defamation. There is no law against getting a person to publicly admit to wrong-doing. "Entrapment" is something that only law enforcement can do (and it's illegal).

Since it is not illegal in Canada for a person to offer sex for money (it is illegal to be a customer, though), the youths are not doing anything illegal. In the US, though, that would be illegal, so they too might get in trouble.

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  • I don't think "entrapment" is actually illegal, just that evidence gained by it is inadmissible
    – Dale M ♦
    Nov 23, 2016 at 23:41
  • Generally speaking, attempting to have sex with a minor or a person believed to be a minor (even if they are not) for money is a crime. So, it would probably be illegal in Canada too. I'm not clear why the question asker thinks that this would be slander. And humiliation is usually prohibited only when unjustified and extreme.
    – ohwilleke
    Nov 23, 2016 at 23:41
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    Well, in some jurisdictions (Indonesia I think) truth is not a defense, so saying that X committed a crime when they did is indeed defamation. Sometimes this is subsumed more general laws against insulting.
    – user6726
    Nov 24, 2016 at 0:34

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