Trolled, threatened and stalked: the mothers caught in the Hampstead Paedophile Hoax speak out
“I think we probably all feel that there is life before the 5th of February 2015, and life after,” says Anna.
“It was very much a seminal moment of our life. Before that, and then our life from that time on was never the same. You know, it has changed us all.”
Anna is not her real name, but her story is. Along with three others, she is speaking out for the first time about the horrific abuse she and her family suffered at the hands of social media trolls. The reason? An internet conspiracy theory gone wild.
A new Channel 4 documentary, Accused: The Hampstead Paedophile Hoax, aims to unpack the entire disturbing story: one that spans years, involves multiple online trolls and is still ongoing. The women don’t appear in the documentary for reasons of privacy and safety; instead, four actors lipsync to their words.
