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Hi, I'm remaining anon but want to ask regarding my son, 27.
He was arrested 2 days ago due to sexual communications with a child. He was interviewed and released on bail. They seized his laptop and phone but the next day said the laptop was clean, he tells me the phone is too which I believe.
The evidence they have are a full sexual chat on kik and snapchat with what the solicitor thinks is a police officer but they haven't told us. In the chat he sent some indecent images on himself. He says he didn't believe it was a child although the converstaion continued until he cut contact.
At this stage I just want to know if the phone is clean and returned will there be a second interview? Based on the evidence will there be charges and a conviction? Will this affect his whole life, i.e sex offenders register, going abroad, getting a mortgage, etc? He's never had any trouble with police, he's bright and lovely person with no malicious intent. I believe him when he says it was a big mistake and lapase in judgement.
He was arrested 2 days ago due to sexual communications with a child. He was interviewed and released on bail. They seized his laptop and phone but the next day said the laptop was clean, he tells me the phone is too which I believe.
The evidence they have are a full sexual chat on kik and snapchat with what the solicitor thinks is a police officer but they haven't told us. In the chat he sent some indecent images on himself. He says he didn't believe it was a child although the converstaion continued until he cut contact.
At this stage I just want to know if the phone is clean and returned will there be a second interview? Based on the evidence will there be charges and a conviction? Will this affect his whole life, i.e sex offenders register, going abroad, getting a mortgage, etc? He's never had any trouble with police, he's bright and lovely person with no malicious intent. I believe him when he says it was a big mistake and lapase in judgement.
Hello JH,
Thank you for reaching out on the Family and Friends Forum for some support and advice. We have noticed that this post has not yet received a response from other forum users. I recognise how hard it may have been to write this first post on the forum, especially at a very difficult time for your family as your son was only recently arrested. This must be a big shock for yourself and your family and I can see that you have lots of questions, therefore, it is really important that you feel supported at this time and have the space to ask these questions and have them answered. I would encourage you to reach out to us on our Stop It Now! helpline (0808 1000 900) for further support and guidance if you would like to. I also hope that you receive a reply from other forum users on?this post soon.
I will try to provide some general advice in the meantime. If it has been found that your sons' devices are clean the police will be unlikely to recall him for a second interview. Depending on what evidence the police find on your sons' devices they may wish to take no further action, give your son a caution or charge and convict him. I can say that this mistake that your son has made will not affect his whole life, if he is charged and convicted, he will be put on the SOR which may affect his life for the period of time he is on it but not after.
I hope this has been helpful.
Take care,
Lucy
Thank you for reaching out on the Family and Friends Forum for some support and advice. We have noticed that this post has not yet received a response from other forum users. I recognise how hard it may have been to write this first post on the forum, especially at a very difficult time for your family as your son was only recently arrested. This must be a big shock for yourself and your family and I can see that you have lots of questions, therefore, it is really important that you feel supported at this time and have the space to ask these questions and have them answered. I would encourage you to reach out to us on our Stop It Now! helpline (0808 1000 900) for further support and guidance if you would like to. I also hope that you receive a reply from other forum users on?this post soon.
I will try to provide some general advice in the meantime. If it has been found that your sons' devices are clean the police will be unlikely to recall him for a second interview. Depending on what evidence the police find on your sons' devices they may wish to take no further action, give your son a caution or charge and convict him. I can say that this mistake that your son has made will not affect his whole life, if he is charged and convicted, he will be put on the SOR which may affect his life for the period of time he is on it but not after.
I hope this has been helpful.
Take care,
Lucy
Thank you so much for the reply. Still coming to terms with things.
One thing I wanted to know, even if he gets a lenient sentence such as community service, will he ever be able to travel to the US again, where we have family friends?
One thing I wanted to know, even if he gets a lenient sentence such as community service, will he ever be able to travel to the US again, where we have family friends?
Hi JH
Unfortunately the US is very strict and rarely let's those with such convictions into the country. Same with Australia. It might be easier was a sentence is spent ( I think 6 years after a sentence ends?)
Unfortunately the US is very strict and rarely let's those with such convictions into the country. Same with Australia. It might be easier was a sentence is spent ( I think 6 years after a sentence ends?)
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Any conviction even if a small one like caught with a small amount of drugs, you wont be able to go to the US
My brother was caught for illegal images but this kik app sounds very dodgy, being caught talking to underage is seen as a more serious crime.
It will affect the rest of his life BUT if he takes responsibility and does the training courses etc it will go in his favour but at the end of day, he is responsible for his own behaviour, If he can't go to the US it affects him not you. This is something for him to deal with and accept his actions make changes in his life, and he will have to rehabilitate but as far as i am aware the chat stuff and images sent is pretty severe stuff.
It may well have been a big mistake and he will learn to live with it
My brother was caught for illegal images but this kik app sounds very dodgy, being caught talking to underage is seen as a more serious crime.
It will affect the rest of his life BUT if he takes responsibility and does the training courses etc it will go in his favour but at the end of day, he is responsible for his own behaviour, If he can't go to the US it affects him not you. This is something for him to deal with and accept his actions make changes in his life, and he will have to rehabilitate but as far as i am aware the chat stuff and images sent is pretty severe stuff.
It may well have been a big mistake and he will learn to live with it
I believe him when he says he has nothing on his phone and it's clean. But as silly as this question sounds, will it be a guaranteed conviction? He never tried to meet up and tells me he never truly believed it was someone under age, but made the mistake of not ending the conversation. They have a printed out transcript and the photos, two of which with his face in them. But if they can't find the same chats or history on his phone, is there any chance that would be insufficient evidence and he'd just get a caution? I know there's no way to know, I'm just trying to get my head around outcomes.
He's never done anything wrong before, and is a good boy who did well at school. I'm hoping his good character and no previous will help?
Also can you direct me to the training courses to help him get a more favorable outcome please? I don't have any knowledge of these.
He's never done anything wrong before, and is a good boy who did well at school. I'm hoping his good character and no previous will help?
Also can you direct me to the training courses to help him get a more favorable outcome please? I don't have any knowledge of these.
I think in some cases there might be grounds to charge if they have the screen shots on their end and don't always need the 'raw' evidence from his phone. They will investigate to find out if there is any further evidence of offending.
It is hard to defend the reasoning 'didbt think I was taking to an under age person' because it is only their word for it really. Previous good character might help towards mitigation but that doesn't mean they are not capable of iioc offences. My partner has a degree and well educated and no previous offences, but still ended up down the rabbit hole.
I suggest they sign up to the inform plus course with Lucy faithful since that helped my partner alot. The helpline will also be useful to establish the best resources. Essentially the offender needs to question why they ended up chatting to someone online in the manner they did and see why it os worrying. What if it was a young child on the other end? What if the convo wasn't enough and they sought something more? These kind of questions need to be addressed (and more) to help fully rehabilite to prevent further situations happening again. This may have been a one off but it is still behaviour that should not happen at all. Hence why it is flagged as a concern and under investigation.
It is hard to defend the reasoning 'didbt think I was taking to an under age person' because it is only their word for it really. Previous good character might help towards mitigation but that doesn't mean they are not capable of iioc offences. My partner has a degree and well educated and no previous offences, but still ended up down the rabbit hole.
I suggest they sign up to the inform plus course with Lucy faithful since that helped my partner alot. The helpline will also be useful to establish the best resources. Essentially the offender needs to question why they ended up chatting to someone online in the manner they did and see why it os worrying. What if it was a young child on the other end? What if the convo wasn't enough and they sought something more? These kind of questions need to be addressed (and more) to help fully rehabilite to prevent further situations happening again. This may have been a one off but it is still behaviour that should not happen at all. Hence why it is flagged as a concern and under investigation.
Maij may I ask what the offence was that only resulted in a caution and 2 years on SOR?
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With my sons case, which is the first post in this thread, what are the chances of a caution or NFA do you think? Just from your instinct, obviously, I'm not relying on this info.
Also does anyone know how the police came to my home? IP address tracking?
Also does anyone know how the police came to my home? IP address tracking?
Police are sometimes notified of offences by the software operator, sometimes by modulators who monitor and regulate internet traffic. Also the police and the NCA have attached digital forensic fingerprints to selected images / video clips and can then trace them back to source when downloaded.
This was how they came to knock on my partner ..
This was how they came to knock on my partner ..
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