Five friends in Örnsköldsvik are charged with luring, assaulting, and publicly shaming a man as a pedophile after applying to join Pedo Hunting Sweden. Police investigation uncovered child pornography on one man's phone, leading to further charges. The incident occurred in late May 2024 at the local train station.
On a Thursday evening in late May 2024, a man stepped off the train at Örnsköldsvik station after arranging a meeting via a dating app. Instead of a date, two men approached, dragging him down stairs to an underpass where a third waited. The three assaulted him with kicks and brass knuckles while a fourth filmed. The video spread rapidly on Instagram, TikTok, and Telegram, viewed by thousands who praised the perpetrators for exposing an alleged pedophile.
The five friends, linked to supporter violence and involved in organized brawls, planned during spring 2024 to hunt and humiliate suspected pedophiles through chats. Days before the assault, they applied to join Pedo Hunting Sweden, a vigilante group targeting and assaulting suspected pedophiles. The driving force was a 22-year-old handyman employed by Örnsköldsvik municipality. The day after the video, a key PHS member contacted them: "You are warmly welcome as members".
In February 2025, the five men were arrested on suspicion of the station assault, along with other assaults, blue light sabotage, and vandalism. Prosecutor Ida Annerstedt outlines the motive: "Regarding the crimes at the station, the purpose was to expose the victim as a sex offender on the internet and social media, as Pedo Hunting Sweden does." While examining phones, police found in the 22-year-old's device videos of girls under 15 in a school shower room, recorded during a construction job six months after his PHS application. Officer Robin Govik states: "In his phone, we found images taken in a shower room. It was obvious someone had secretly filmed." Govik adds the crime likely wouldn't have been discovered without the phone seizure and shows no signs of distribution.
The 22-year-old denies child pornography and invasive photography charges: "I am completely against this. It's just bullshit," claiming someone else sent the videos. His lawyer, Jonas Vedin, confirms he admits some PHS-related crimes but denies the new suspicions. The school's principal has frosted shower door windows and criticizes the lack of oversight for external contractors: "Companies must take greater responsibility for which handymen they send to schools."