He is the beanie-wearing vigilante trawling internet dating apps for predators who he later exposes to legions of adoring subscribers online.<\/p>\n
Amir Hawatt, who goes by the moniker Faze Nighthawk, has amassed millions of views on social media for carrying out what he and others see as a vital public service.<\/p>\n
The tactic is simple: Scour chatrooms for predators. Approach them under the guise of a pre-teen or barely-teenage boy or girl. Engage in often disturbing conversations online. Convince them to meet in public. <\/p>\n
When the alleged predators eventually do turn up \u2014 sometimes after as many as seven months of baiting \u2014 there is no young person waiting for them.<\/p>\n
Instead, Faze greets them with a camera crew, some microphones and a disarming approach that time and time again involves the accused confessing to grooming young people for sex.<\/p>\n
In a recent video, Faze meets with an alleged child groomer in a public street in Sydney. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo we can both agree she was a 13-year-old girl?\u201d he asks the man.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes. I sent a picture of my d**k. My bad, my total bad,\u201d the man replies in the video, which has been viewed more than 1.5 million times.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long have you had an attraction to kids?\u201d Faze asks.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t. That\u2019s the whole thing,\u201d the man replies.<\/p>\n
Within minutes, having convinced the man he is there to turn his life around, the police arrive.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre the police here for me?\u201d the man asks. <\/p>\n
\u201cCan you just make them go away?\u201d<\/p>\n
The vigilante, who travels interstate for stings and spends countless hours in the darkest parts of the internet, is good at what he does. But that might not matter.<\/p>\n
This week, he called his own work \u201ca big waste of time\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn all honesty it feels like a big waste of time catching predators here in Australia. For what?\u201d he wrote online.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor them to end up getting three months in jail? For the judges to end up throwing out cases?<\/p>\n
\u201cThese predators are confessing to having videos of kids being raped on their devices, and I\u2019m constantly hearing \u2018they\u2019re out on bail\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cAustralia has no justice system, this is a rehabilitation country. Some of the worst offenders in history come from this country, and their sentences are a big slap on the wrist.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you really think I want to spent seven + months investigating someone, going back and forth with them daily through a decoy account, travelling to another state to catch them, getting them to confess to have (child pornography), testifying against them in court, and all I get to do is expose them and not let them serve justice?<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I interview predators, I\u2019m holding myself back and acting like their friend to have them admit to the most disgusting things, in hopes that the justice system takes care of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the justice system fails, why would I want to endure listening to their confessions knowing that they won\u2019t face true punishment?\u201d<\/p>\n
Australia’s justice system is lenient towards child sex offenders \u2014 at least compared to western standards \u2014 and the offenders know it.<\/p>\n
Andrew Carpenter, who proudly wears the title of \u201cthe most hated man in Australia by child sex offenders\u201d, is a partner at Websters Lawyers and an advocate for sex crime victims.<\/p>\n
In an interview with news.com.au this week, he said Faze Nighthawk was \u201cfilling a void\u201d, because politicians do not take child sexual abuse seriously.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing that Australians need to realise is we need more funding for crimes related to child sexual abuse and it shouldn\u2019t be up to members of the public to try to prosecute and collate evidence,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cUntil there\u2019s more funding in this area, an area that\u2019s growing exponentially, we\u2019re just going to see this form of alleged crime continue to rise.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing with Faze is that he\u2019s acting on behalf of the Australian public who are screaming for our parliaments to implement stricter laws related to child sexual offending.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to see minimum mandatory sentencing. We need to see the statistics \u2014 that show one-in-three girls and one-in-five boys will be sexually abused before their 18th birthday \u2014 drop. Until our parliaments pass significant laws that will deter offending and protect survivors, these crimes will continue to rise.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate that people like Faze have to get involved, but they\u2019re simply trying to fill a void that the Australian public thinks the parliaments have dropped the ball on.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the problem for Faze was that several Australian states and territories make it \u201cillegal to film people without consent\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt all comes down to the admissibility of evidence. If the ordinary punter is going out and filming videos, we might see that these videos are going to be thrown out,\u201d Mr Carpenter said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn some states and territories it\u2019s illegal to film people without consent. So some of those videos cannot be used in court. Police have to go through certain channels in order to get warrants and wire taps on individuals and get search warrants to look through phones.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that people like Faze are doing this says it\u2019s what the Australian public wants.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Carpenter has been outspoken about sentencing for child sex offenders in Australia. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not deterring offenders when they\u2019re seeing that if they commit crimes they\u2019ll get (Community Correction Orders or suspended sentences),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone living in Victoria during the pandemic spent more time in \u2018home detention\u2019 than some child sex offenders do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Faze Nighthawk says he can only go after \u201clittle fish\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, they run the world,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Epstein files proved that. As civilians, we can only try our best to be good people in a world full of satanic pedophiles.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want to start exposing predators, you must stay in your lane and focus on the little fish.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce you start poking around their territory, they\u2019ll take you out. And I am aware of this.\u201d<\/p>\n
The problem, meanwhile, continues to grow. <\/p>\n
According to Mr Carpenter<\/a>, who operates out of South Australia, the percentage of people charged with crimes pertaining to child sexual abuse in the District Court of South Australia this week were as follows.<\/p>\n \u2013 Monday 10 August: 26.66 per cent<\/p>\n \u2013 Tuesday 11 August: 36.6 per cent<\/p>\n \u2013 Wednesday 12 August: 20.51<\/p>\n \u2013 Thursday 13 August: 31.82<\/p>\n \u2013 Friday 14 August: 24.07 <\/p>\n Got a story or tip-off? Email rohan.smith1@news.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n