There are some NFA stories on here, we too are hoping for this outcome but have been told by the OIC that is could be next year before his phone is downloaded.



Sorry you are going through this it's not somewhere any of us what's to be!

I can message you if you want?

I really feel for you if this has been a true hack but sadly I think the police are nice knowing full well that SW will take their time. Our OIC said he was happy for my husband to return as soon as the SW was. It took just over 6 months to get to that point following a CIN plan :( It was another 6 months of my husband living at home but locked away in an annex above the garage with no unsupervised contact.



It might be worth thinking about putting a safety plan together soon for just the 15 year old just in case.



Sadly we are still waiting for any next steps for my OH, though he admited he looked at IIOC due to a porn addiction escallating out of control - that is almost 3 years now.



The "good" news it that in that time 2 of 3 "children" are now over 18, and life for us as has been pretty normal for the last 2 years. Just waiting for it to come crashing down again sometime soon-ish :(

@Scared mum

do you mind me asking was there a process the police had to follow to allow your husband home? Social services happy for my son to return home but police said no and they'll reconsider at bail review point in 2 months. I don't know if that's the process they have to follow or they're not being flexible. Frustrating!

@ Shfjaojsbth

I think it is so sad they won't let your son come home at a time when he probably really needs support from his family. Below is a link to a recently published report. It highlights the fact that there is no consistency in how different police forces handle things:

https://hmicfrs.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/publication-html/policing-online-child-sexual-abuse-and-managing-registered-sex-offenders/

The only certainty is that the wait for digital forensics etc is only going to get longer. As quoted from the report:

"The NCA told us that the number of referrals they received increased from 25,645 in the year ending 31 December 2019 to 72,161 in the year ending 31 December 2023, a 181 percent increase. This has, in turn, led to an increase in the number of referrals to the police. For example, in 2023, forces collectively received 12,469 referrals from the NCA. In 2024, this rose to 20,704 referrals, a 66 percent increase."

Thank you. It is so needlessly cruel and senseless. He was just 18 and investigation for offences when under 18 himself. Back to court to try again we go! Thanks for the link, interesting and shocking. Something has to be done to prevent this happening.

Just no consistency, common sense or fairness in the approaches taken. The fall out for wider family and children is horrendous.

Sorry to hear that, it's hard enough for them as it is.

Has anyone been signed off from SW and had bail conditions changed we have been signed off from SW but bail conditions still state my OH is not allowed to stay over night, no unsupervised contact, should I be reading more in to things as police have still not checked the electronic devices.

Bail conditions are put in place to manage the risk while they investigate. SS are happy to sign off with the conditions in place as there's no risk.

Hi. Yes when SW dropped our case we asked for review of bail conditions. We had to write to OIC and explained the impact it was having ....

We asked for the unsupervised contact and being at home with our child, but they did keep no unsupervised or overnight with other children.

Yes we had. After nearly 4 years of investigation they found...... nothing.

Yes, NFA here after a wait of almost a year for devices to be checked. Person was under 18 at the time but it took two years for police to make contact. We think unsolicited images were sent by an underage stranger via Snapchat and that triggered an investigation but I guess we'll never really know. Almost ruined lives and careers for something that just went away without any consequences as suddenly as it crashed into our world.

Good that you've had positive outcomes but so damaging to have to go through that process, especially for those in late teens. Really knocks your faith in the system that it can be so brutal to those who are so vulnerable themselves. Lifelong impacts for them even with a NFA outcome.

Not good news but i wanted to tell you im staying with my partner, very similar story porn addiction from before we was together he just came across pics and looked out of habit I belive him he was single for 8yrs before me ..... maybe cause my 1st husband had drink n drug addiction I dont no but my 4 children 2 under 18 are full suppoortive but 2 over 18 are not they went no contact last week even though our knock was 6mths ago....

We got low risk from social services, OIC said theres 100 or so images which is alot but I was expecting 1000s he hasn't be charged yet bail is til Oct hubsand is having therapy weekly etc

In a strange way I feel closer to him than before

Just wanna say hang on in there x

I saw an old friend at the weekend and she took me into her confidence to tell me that her 24 year old son had 'the knock' back in January, all devices taken and last month was give the NFA. I then decided to tell her (the first person I have told) that our 18 year old had the knock too in January and we are still in limbo. It was such a relief to be able to share this dark secret with someone I have known for over 20 years and to know she won't tell anyone. It made me so happy to hear in person of a NFA case.

Oh wow I've wondered whether anyone else I know is silently treading the same path, wonderful you've found each other.

I can share a good news ending. After 18months of pure hell just as out of the blue as the knock had come my OH received a call from his solicitor to say NFA and he could arrange to pick up devices. I had stayed as my OH is my world and has supported me through so much and I'm so glad I did. The NFA was nearly two months ago now and I've gone from visiting this forum daily to just dipping in and out as it was such a bit part of my life. I hope for so many others the hell eases soon.

Hi Emma, it must be such relief. Are you able to share what he was arrested for that ultimatly ended with NFA?

My 21 year old ( 20 at the time of knock) and our family have really struggled with stress and health issues since April 2025. The knock came out of the blue the night before we were going to fly out on a family holiday. And last week just out of the blue we got a phone call to say NfFA! It felt like we were in a dream, a surreal feeling after living with this heightened level of stress for so long. My son and I broke down crying, and it took us a few days to come out of shock, similar to the shock when the knock came.All the best to everyone in this awful situation x

We had NFA but sadly, years later, it happened again. I'm really sorry to say (however hard reality is!) that NFA does not mean that no offending has taken place.

Nor does it mean that offending has taken place