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A Dutch police chief has called for an end to the “pedophile hunt” after a 73-year-old retired teacher was beaten by teenagers and died of his injuries.
Oscar Dros said there was a risk that more people would die and asked that people leave justice to the authorities.
The man from the eastern city of Arnhem was lured into having sexual contact with a minor while in a gay chat room.
It is not known if he knew that the boy was only 15 years old.
It is also unclear whether the former teacher was actually a pedophile or not.
The Arnhem attack is the latest in a series of 250 incidents involving so-called “pedophile hunters” in the Netherlands, reports say.
Reports say the group of teenagers came up with the idea of looking for a pedophile after reading stories elsewhere in the Netherlands.
The former professor arrived at an agreed meeting point on October 28 and was then followed as he made his way home. He was beaten by a group of boys and he later died in hospital.
Mayor Ahmed Marcouch has spoken of a “terrible crime” that has had an impact on the local community. Dozens of neighbors, friends and former students participated in a ceremony to remember the victim this past weekend.
The 15-year-old’s lawyer told local De Gelderlander website that the idea of hunting pedophiles “came out of boredom in this time of the crown. His client had gotten carried away, but he himself was not involved in the attack.
Jamil Roethof argued that the teens had only wanted to confront the man and did not have a premeditated plan to attack him. He suggested that he had died from a fall.
Seven teenagers were arrested, six of them under 18 years of age, and two are in custody.
