Family and Friends Forum

Hello,



This is my first time posting, but I’ve read your posts for almost a year now. You are all incredibly brave and strong people.



My knock came almost two years ago and reading your posts and knowing that there were others going through what I was going through helped me immensely. Thank you for sharing your stories. I thought it was time that I share mine and hope it helps others.



My knock came almost two years ago. I am not from the United Kingdom or Ireland but I am from a Commonwealth country so some things work the same as you have all described and some things work differently. Where I live, the police did not present the case to the Crown to determine whether or not there should be charges. The police have full discretion to press charges. This means that everything is public from day one, as it was in my family’s case. My husband held a prominent position in our community and everything was out in the papers the next day (and online that evening). There was no hiding. There was no time to digest what was happening.



My husband professed innocence all along.



Fast forward many, many months later and the Crown dropped the charges. He was charged with accessing and possession on a work computer. But his passwords were posted (a work culture issue) and there many, many keys to his office. Including in the hands of people who should not have his keys.



Children’s Services were in our life, but they never asked for a Safety Plan and closed our file many months before the charges were dropped. Looking back, I realize this was unusual and a clear indication that they believed in my husband, but I did not see it at the time. I’ve been through the whole roller coaster of supporting him and wanting to part ways.



Unfortunately, even though the Crown dropped the charges the damage was done. His reputation is destroyed. So, even with the best outcome possible, it doesn’t seem to matter.



But, on a positive note, we are managing. We are surrounded by a large group of family and friends who love and support us. Some things will never be the same, but some things are better. I take less for granted now and try to appreciate all the small beautiful things in life.



I try not to dwell on what happened and the injustices that occurred, but it can be difficult. I often reflect back on what happened and question why a more thorough investigation did not take place before charges were laid.



This is the question part of my post comes in...



No one has been able to tell us how the images got on the computer. The police determined the possession and accessing was via the Dark Web. But to access the Dark Web one needs a TOR enabled browser. There was no TOR enabled browser and there was no evidence that an external device was used to access the Dark Web. The police did believe his office computer was infected, but they did not investigate it. Our forensics also did not investigate it as our Solicitor thought we had enough to have the charges dropped and there was no point in spending more money. At the time this all made sense to me, now I wish we had pushed for further investigation. I’ve tried researching whether or not it’s possible for a virus to access the Dark Web, but I’m now terrified of the Internet and scared of clicking on the wrong thing. Has anyone heard of this?