Undercover Police: Hunting Paedophiles viewers claimed that a teaching assistant accused of grooming a 14-year-old boy faked fainting at a police station in order to escape charges.
The hard-hitting Channel 4 documentary series has shown the horrifying extent to which paedophiles use the internet to prey on their victims.
However, they were shocked when one of the accused was revealed to be a teaching assistant.
What happened on Hunting Paedophiles last night?
In the last of the series, members of the Bedfordshire Police task force created a fake teenage online identity in a bid to lure paedophiles.
Straight away, viewers saw members of the force arrest teaching assistant Steven Johnson at a branch of KFC, where he had arranged to meet ‘Oli’.
Read more: Undercover Police: Hunting Paedophiles viewers outraged at ‘absurd’ sentences for offenders
Johnson had sent explicit messages to the fake identity online, even though ‘Oli’ had told him he had to be discreet ‘because of his age’.
Upon arrest, Johnson became distressed and said: “I can’t do this.”
Things got worse at the station, where he became emotional and fainted.
Is Steven Johnson now in prison?
After being revived by officers, he was taken in for questioning.
Through his tears, Johnson initially maintained that he thought he was meeting an 18-year-old.
However, when confronted with evidence that he knew Oli’s real age, he said: “Maybe… I don’t know.”
In the end, Johnson pleaded guilty to arranging a child sex offence and attempted sexual communication with a child.
At the end of the episode, it was revealed Johnson had been sentenced to two-and-half years in prison.
Steven the teaching assistant nonce with the worst fake collapse going, he definitely doesn’t work at a drama school #HuntingPaedophiles
— Yush (@yusha123) February 22, 2021
You hate yourself? I hate you too.
You knew what you were doing. Next stage, if I had my way, you would be meeting an untimely end. No discussions. Stop the fake crying. Children are the victims, not you.#UndercoverPolice#HuntingPaedophiles— Emma Adwoa Sawyerr (@Purple_Worship) February 22, 2021
https://twitter.com/kp27988/status/1363965049266667527
Looks like he's been watching too much of Gillian McKeith's fainting #HuntingPaedophiles #undercoverpolice
— Kyle Sewell (@KTheBritMC) February 22, 2021
How did viewers react?
After his histrionics at the police station, viewers accused Johnson of fake-fainting in order to escape charges.
“Are we meant to believe this man is fainting for real?” asked one viewer on Twitter.
Another wrote: “Steven the teaching assistant nonce with the worst fake collapse going, he definitely doesn’t work at a drama school.”
Read more: Hunting Paedophiles: Is it an illness and how to check if a paedophile lives near you
A third angrily wrote: “You hate yourself? I hate you too.
“You knew what you were doing.
“Next stage, if I had my way, you would be meeting an untimely end. No discussions. Stop the fake crying. Children are the victims, not you.”
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