Facebook Vigilante Posts 6,000-Strong Pedophile Register

(NewsCore) - A vigilante completed his own U.K. sex offenders register on Facebook by posting the names and pictures of nearly 6,000 sex offenders, The Sun reported Saturday.

Determined campaigner Chris Wittwer believes everyone should have a right to access information on sex offenders in their area, so he set about scouring newspaper reports and cross-referencing them with court records to produce a nationwide list.

Wittwer, 34, said he spent "every waking hour" gathering the thousands of pieces of information needed to make what he said is the largest photographic gallery in the world.

It includes mugshots, and he said it allows parents to look out for sex offenders near them in case they decide to re-offend.

The list already attracted thousands of followers and is similar to the database recently made available to U.K. parents in four pilot areas in response to calls for Sarah's Law, named for an eight-year-old girl who was murdered by a known sex offender.

"I am effectively doing Sarah's Law for the police," Wittwer said. "But it's not a question of being a hate mob ... Because of the repeat nature of many child sex offenses, it is an invaluable tool for parents who want to keep a watching eye over their kids."

Police closed down his first group focusing on his native Devon, southern England, two years ago -- but had to leave him alone when he proved he was doing nothing illegal.

All the information Wittwer uses is already in the public domain.

Read more: The Sun

(This article is provided by NewsCore, which aggregates news from around News Corporation.)