A 31-year-old Riverton man has appeared in court after allegedly sending sexualised messages to two teenagers who were "hunting child predators" by pretending to be a 14-year-old boy.

It is alleged Tsuyoshi Tanaka used social media to communicate with the teenagers, aged 13 and 15, between September 1 and 7, before meeting them at a shopping centre in Joondalup.

The Magistrates Court in Joondalup today heard the teenagers used their phones to record Mr Tanaka when he arrived at the centre, and called him a child predator.

The court was told Mr Tanaka fled the scene and the teenagers uploaded part of their video recording to social media.

After an investigation by the Child Exploitation Operations Squad, he was arrested at Perth Airport on Thursday upon his return from a holiday in Japa

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