Stinson Hunter

Stinson Hunter (born Kieren Parsons, 10 October 1981), is an English film maker, activist, podcaster and journalist based in Warwickshire, best known for appearing in the lead role of the Channel 4 documentary The Paedophile Hunter, which aired on 1 October 2014.

Early life

Stinson Hunter was born Kieren Parsons on 10 October 1981 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, moving to Tamworth, Staffordshire, with his mother and stepfather, aged 8. He went to Wilnecote High School age 11, but was expelled at age 13, Stinson would later go on to attend two other schools, Belgrave High School and Rawlett High School, from which he was both expelled. A subsequently jailed for the arson attack shortly afterwards on his former junior school Wilnecote Junior School; Stinson later admitted that as a teenager he "[hadn't cared]", but claims that he had never intended to hurt anyone. During his imprisonment, he was provoked by a fellow prisoner throwing food through the bars of his cell; he responded by sharpening a plastic knife which he used to cut the man's face. This led to Stinson eventually serving a sentence of six years and eight months, in which he was refused parole. When he was moved to an open prison in Sudbury, Derbyshire aged 24, he worked at a stables and various charity shops. He then attended Derby University upon his release, and began to study a social sciences degree, in which he also worked three jobs in order to make ends meet. Stinson has stated that he dropped out of the university in his second year, feeling that his outlook had changed: "[I did it] because I knew I couldn’t be what I wanted. I wanted to help people, maybe be a shrink or something, but I knew with my criminal background I’d never be able to work with people in that way." He then began to spend a majority of his time 'partying hard', drinking and spending time with friends.

Relationship breakup, first sting and The Paedophile Hunter

A relationship in 2008 with a girl followed - Stinson was then devastated when they broke up 18 months later. A friend had then come around to check if he was alright, bringing alcohol, and mentioned the girl had been IDed to get the beer. It was then that Stinson had the idea to put her photograph up on the internet to see what would happen. This was when he and his friends made their first sting, but admitted they did not film him, "just watched him arrive out of the window." In 2012 Stinson decided to make it an operation, based at his home in Stourbridge: "It started with a profile on a dating site and a guy contacted us, telling us he was a 47-year-old mental health nurse. We got him in a Birmingham hotel under the pretense of a 14-year-old virgin and we videoed it. We wanted to raise awareness for public safety on Facebook so we put it up online and have done it ever since, honing our technique."^[1][2]

Drug use and childhood

Despite taking speed at age 12 at a friend's house, Stinson has stated that his parents gave him a good upbringing, and declared his self-described "little shit" behaviour was the catalyst that led to his being put into care a year after. In the children's home aged fourteen, Stinson was significantly affected by the gang rape of a friend the same age, who was being groomed in exchange for items such as clothes, money and phones. Another female who had become involved would try to coerce others into the circle by reminding them of the items they could gain at 'work'; Stinson recalled his memories of grooming gangs which would travel up from Birmingham to the home to get the girls. He stated that the girls would then be put into prostitution. Stinson later met his biological father when he was sixteen, at which point he was signed out of care to move into his home in Birmingham. However, a rift soon formed and Stinson chose to move out, at this point a "functioning addict" to heroin, partially influenced after viewing the gritty film Trainspotting, which he had seen whilst working in telesales.

References