Imogen's fake Tinder profile. Photo / YouTube
Imogen had dark hair and big eyes - a woman any man would find attractive.
She appeared to have an essence that was pure and innocent but she was actually a lure for child groomers.
She was 15, at least that's what the men she met on Tinder thought anyway.
Imogen was actually 21, but she posed as a 15-year-old on Tinder to expose paedophiles who were using the app to prey on young girls.
The Melbourne university student, with her friend Blake, spearheaded this entire sting operation, which they call the Tinder Experiment, and their actions have resulted in the arrests of two child groomers.
Blake told news.com.au curiosity was the reason for the experiment.
"I saw a lot of unusual things come up on my own Tinder account, including underage girls, and I wanted to run an experiment to see how other guys were reacting to such things," he said.
"Once the profile went up and we saw how they were reacting, we decided to go that step further and see how they acted in person.
"From that point it really became about raising awareness and showing the public what was happening in their community."
Men who looked like completely normal blokes were attracted to Imogen as a 15-year-old and would send her disgusting and horrific messages, some too explicit to publish.
They would talk to her about sex acts and fantasise about her body.
Imogen had to create a believable 15-year-old character.
On her Tinder profile Imogen used photographs that were six-years-old.
"I ran the account and spoke in a way that typical teenagers would speak, based on what I had observed on social media and from younger family members," Blake said.
When Imogen would meet the older men in person, she dressed and did her make-up in a way that made her look young.
"All the meet ups were dimly lit anyway so it was easily believable. I wouldn't have questioned it myself," Blake said.
The profile said Imogen was 18-years-old - you have to be that age to download the dating app - but they wrote a bio clearly stating she was 15 and in fact, underage.
She liked every man that passed across her profile and nearly everybody liked her back, she had more than 500 matches.
A teenage Imogen attracted men in their 30s, 40s and even 50s.
She didn't initiate any conversations but many of the men did.
"Conversations progressed (usually quite quickly) and most of the men suggested a meet up or invited themselves over as soon as Imogen revealed that she had a 'free house' for the night," Blake said.
"After the first night we decided it would be safer to do the meet ups in public places instead."
Men would show up to a house that had three cameras in the lounge room.
One was on a shelf above the television, one behind the couch and one to the side.
Blake said every crew member was also filming on their iPhones.
A person was also hiding under the staircase at the entrance, showing the men entering and then running out of the house.
Blake said they tried to stay as close to Imogen as possible.
"There was always someone within two metres in the house. She was always in sight and within earshot of all of us in case something went wrong," he said.
When Imogen began speaking to the men, they would first compliment her appearance before sending her sexually explicit messages.
"A lot of the men would mention how much trouble they could get in, before continuing to pursue her," Blake said.
"In person, they all attempted to hug, kiss or grope Imogen."
One man even touched her breast.
In Victoria, you can secretly record a private conversation if you're involved and it's not a breach of surveillance legislation.
Blake also made clear their experiment was not entrapment and they did not encourage a person to commit a crime they otherwise wouldn't have committed.
n a YouTube video, Blake said no encouragement was given to the men and when Imogen met up with them she didn't ask them to kiss her.
"They did that on their own," Blake said.
Imogen slipped into her 15-year-old persona as soon as the older men would knock on the door.
She invited them in, asked them how the drive was and made small talk.
She sat on the couch with them and within seconds they would have their arms around her, or be trying to kiss her.
Every time she refused their advances and said she wasn't ready yet.
The videos recorded by the hidden cameras were later uploaded to YouTube, exposing the scary reality that lurked behind the dating app.
The first man that showed up was in his 30s.
Moments after sitting on the couch with Imogen, he began to rub her back and tried to kiss her.
The man believed nobody was home, and Blake acted as if he was her brother, who came back after forgetting his wallet.
"Who are you?" Blake yells.
The man was scared and ran straight for the door.
"(He) took shelter in shrubbery near the house. He was terrified, which highlights that he knew that what he was doing was wrong," Blake said.
After he runs away, the secret video captures Imogen and some members of the crew laughing, but that wasn't because they weren't taking it seriously.
Blake told his YouTube channel it was the reaction to being released from an intense situation.
"Imogen obviously felt uncomfortable, she was trying to maintain her character and not crack," he said.
"As soon as the men left she was expressing release. As for the cameramen, they were laughing because the whole situation was ridiculous and they couldn't believe what they were seeing."
The next man to show up was in his 40s.
He came over about 11.30pm and asked her about school.
He put his arm around her and asks how old she is really.
She again tells him she's 15, but that people say she looks about 18.
He asks her if she has been with men his age before and she tells him she's used to it.
He tries to kiss her and she rejects him.
He tells her he's nervous right before Blake storms back into the house.
Blake interrogates him and asks what he is doing there with his 15-year-old "sister".
The man gets up to leave straight away and Blake asks him how old he is.
He lies and says he is in his 30s and denies knowing Imogen is 15.
The man leaves the house and runs off down the street.
Tobias was a 43-year-old man, caught by the Tinder Experiment twice.
When he wrote to Imogen on Tinder he told her he hadn't had sex with a 15-year-old in ages, but he was "excited".
The messages he wrote her were incredibly graphic and disturbing.
He invited Imogen over to his house in Melbourne for some "no strings attached fun".
Blake, still pretending to be her brother, dropped Imogen off.
She met the man outside his house and after some quick small talk, Blake confronted him.
He asked the man what he was doing with a 15-year-old and the man becomes defensive and says he didn't have any sexual intentions, and just wanted to hang out.
Blake asks if that's normal for him and then takes Imogen's phone and pretends to read the messages he sent to her.
Blake threatens to call the police and tells the man to leave and he did.
But Imogen received another message from him the next morning.
"He was mean I really liked you, I hope maybe we could still arrange to meet up privately," he said.
He sent her another message saying "I can't wait to kiss you all over".
"Whatever happens between us has to stay private, it's illegal for me to be with someone your age, I could go to jail, cause you are so young and fresh," he said.
The man proceeds to send sexual messages and asks Imogen what her breast size is.
Imogen meets up with the man again and this time he is ambushed by Blake and other members of the Tinder experiment.
He walks away and defends himself and says he wasn't doing anything wrong, despite trying to kiss her when he saw her.
This man, Tobias Kilsby, has now been jailed.
AAP reports two men who used Tinder to groom young girls were jailed after they were exposed by the Tinder Experiment.
Detective Senior Constable Emma O'Rourke, from the Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team, said Blake and his team gave police half a dozen names of people who made contact with Imogen.
"Not all of these people came to meet them, some did and as a result of that we approached them covertly to engage with us," Detective Senior Constable O'Rourke told AAP.
"And as a result two of the males have been charged and convicted."
Kilsby was jailed for two years for sending sexually explicit messages to an officer pretending to be a 13-year-old.
Videos of him filmed by the Tinder Experiment were presented before the court.
Kilsby pleaded guilty.
"The Tinder Experiment did what police were already doing - just on a different platform," Detective Senior Constable Tas Gagatsakis told AAP.
"We operate on all platforms, Tinder is usually for users 18 and over, but when these things come to light we are very interested in trying to find out what is going on."
Nicolaos Katsamas, another man caught by the Tinder Experiment, was sentenced last month to two-and-a-half years jail.
According to AAP, he will be released on a $5000 good behaviour bond after six months behind bars.
Police became aware of Katsamas after he made contact with Imogen.
AAP reports the County Court of Victoria heard that Katsamas sent sexual messages to an officer posing as a 13-year-old and was trying to organise a meet-up at a hotel.
Blake told news.com.au members of the Tinder Experiment did not expect it to lead to arrests.
"We're obviously really happy with the results now," he said.
"It was a long process, with a lot of time spent working with the police, so we're glad to have closure now."
Blake said their videos shocked people, which highlighted the importance of raising awareness.
"So many people have told us they're going to be more careful or more vigilant with their children's internet use."
The Tinder Experiment has now been shut down, following advice from police.
"We didn't do a whole lot of risk assessment at the start; we just made sure we had enough men on hand to diffuse any possible conflict," Blake said.
"In hindsight, we didn't really consider the possibility of one of the men bringing a gun. Thankfully this didn't happen.
"We did have one scenario where Imogen realised halfway through a meet up that the man was dangerous. Thankfully this one was in broad daylight, in a public place and she was able to make an excuse to leave without any problems. We definitely didn't want to confront this particular person."
- With AAP
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