Young person awaiting police decision
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Hi has anyone any experience of what could happen to my 16 year old stepson who was arrested a month ago for downloading indecent images?
The police said it could take them 6 months to a year to investigate all the images
The police said it could take them 6 months to a year to investigate all the images
There's plenty of mums on here so I'm sure you'll get some advice soon. Xx
I am so sorry you find yourself in this position. The wait before you know what is going to happen to your stepson is very hard to deal with and the police expecting a young person of 16 years be worrying about what will happen for at least six months is really difficult for the young person. The best suggestion I can give is that in this interim time of not knowing what is going to happen, is for your stepson to engage with the Young Person Inform Course (run by the charity) so he can understand how he has got into this situation and also understand all the law around the internet.
The young person in our family waited over a year before a decision was made and he completed the Young Person course whilst waiting which was hugely beneficial to him. The long wait can have a detrimental mental health affect on a young person, so keep a careful eye on your stepson. From our experience the police did not care at all about the wellbeing of the young person in our family and did not take into account his anxiety and nuerodiversity- he was not dealt with any quicker because of his vulnerabilities and age. I hope your experience is better than ours in how the police have treated your stepson.
Depending on what the police find your stepson could get NFA (no further action), receive a youth caution by the police or will be charged and have to attend youth court.
You may find looking at 'Just for Kids Law' charity website helpful for information on what could happen to a youth if arrested and then charged with an offence.
My advice to you is make sure your stepson goes through the system as a Youth. If he is only 16 now hopefully this will not be a problem. If he turns 18 years and this has not been sorted he will then be treated as an adult, which is so unfair. Again more information on this can be found on the Just for Kids Law website.
I hope this information is of some help to you.
The young person in our family waited over a year before a decision was made and he completed the Young Person course whilst waiting which was hugely beneficial to him. The long wait can have a detrimental mental health affect on a young person, so keep a careful eye on your stepson. From our experience the police did not care at all about the wellbeing of the young person in our family and did not take into account his anxiety and nuerodiversity- he was not dealt with any quicker because of his vulnerabilities and age. I hope your experience is better than ours in how the police have treated your stepson.
Depending on what the police find your stepson could get NFA (no further action), receive a youth caution by the police or will be charged and have to attend youth court.
You may find looking at 'Just for Kids Law' charity website helpful for information on what could happen to a youth if arrested and then charged with an offence.
My advice to you is make sure your stepson goes through the system as a Youth. If he is only 16 now hopefully this will not be a problem. If he turns 18 years and this has not been sorted he will then be treated as an adult, which is so unfair. Again more information on this can be found on the Just for Kids Law website.
I hope this information is of some help to you.
Thanks my stepson is going to do the inform course & has a social worker.He was 15 when he was viewing & making indecent images of children close to his age so that may effect the police's decision.To be honest this has rocked the families so trying to move on day by day
Oh Beyonce I really feel for you. Until you know what evidence they have its impossible to say what the next move by the police will be.The wait for them to check devices is awful but it does give you time. Time for your stepson to address his behaviours ,which by the doing the course he is.
My son was a bit older(18at time of offence) he got very very lucky in that they did not find anything on his devices so his case was closed no further action(NFA)
I am glad my son was found out whilst still young, I really hope this means this behaviour has not had time to much time to embed.And that the therapy he continues to have means he can move forward and not look back .
I have no legal expertise but I would hope your stepsons young age will be taken into account as well as the small age difference you mentioned because I personally believe that is relevant.(whilst acknowledging all iioc is wrong)
I know you will be equally furious and heartbroken at what he has done and the impact this has had on your family whilst at the same time wanting to show him love and support .
Easier said than done take one day at a time try and stay positive. Get you stepson to focus on anything positive in his life doing as well as he can in his studies, prooving he wants to address his behaviour. This will stand him in good stead if it gets as far as court. Sending love xxx
My son was a bit older(18at time of offence) he got very very lucky in that they did not find anything on his devices so his case was closed no further action(NFA)
I am glad my son was found out whilst still young, I really hope this means this behaviour has not had time to much time to embed.And that the therapy he continues to have means he can move forward and not look back .
I have no legal expertise but I would hope your stepsons young age will be taken into account as well as the small age difference you mentioned because I personally believe that is relevant.(whilst acknowledging all iioc is wrong)
I know you will be equally furious and heartbroken at what he has done and the impact this has had on your family whilst at the same time wanting to show him love and support .
Easier said than done take one day at a time try and stay positive. Get you stepson to focus on anything positive in his life doing as well as he can in his studies, prooving he wants to address his behaviour. This will stand him in good stead if it gets as far as court. Sending love xxx
Thanks for your advice.My stepson is now doing GCSEs so he will be busy! Also he now reads,plays games on his switch & only online for homework in his Mums lounge.I feel he needs to have a life beyond his room at Mums or ours.He doesn't socialise much & I hear of a few friends.I think a part time job might help him build skills & would look good to the police,what do others think?
I know the evidence is cat B & C when they arrested him but think they will find more
Yes I think a little part time job would be a positive. Dont forget lockdown as a contributing factor kids spent so much time alone in their rooms, with no choice to do anything else during important formative years.
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Hi Beyoncé,
My 17 year old was investigated for iioc last September, officers arrived early morning and took away his phone and computer. He was never arrested, but went in for a voluntary interview 4 weeks later, at which point they returned his computer and asked us for authorization to destroy his phone. They hadn't been sent away for forensics, but the officer in charge said she had viewed the images on the phone. He had a solicitor with him and was honest throughout.
He has been one of the lucky ones. It was 5 months before he turned 18 and if it had gone on longer than that he would have been dealt with as an adult. Instead, the police referred him to the youth offending team, we were scrutinized as a family by social services and he did several meetings with various agencies referred to by the police. Our experience is that everyone was kind to him and he was open and honest with everyone and ready and willing to engage in whatever courses they wanted. This definitely helped him.
Meanwhile, I was straight on to Stop it Now and got him enrolled in the young persons programme. We also got him an emergency (private) referaral for an assessment of autism and this was confirmed. There is no doubt this held massive sway with the final decision, made by a panel of police, youth offending team and others which decided to give him a youth conditional caution just before Christmas. So we went from the bombshell knock on the door to resolution of conditional caution in three months. Incredibly lucky. The caution has now run its course so is over, but obviously it will remain if ever he needs a DBS check.
I struggled so hard to even look at him for ages, I was so disgusted. My husband was brilliant in the early stages but has struggled since. My son is a wonderful, kind hearted and loving boy but for a variety of reasons ended up making some terrible, terrible choices.
I hope you have as good an outcome for your stepson as we had. Normal life does await on the other side. In the meantime, look after yourself and your partner too, I walked around in a trance for most of those three awful months. Much love.
My 17 year old was investigated for iioc last September, officers arrived early morning and took away his phone and computer. He was never arrested, but went in for a voluntary interview 4 weeks later, at which point they returned his computer and asked us for authorization to destroy his phone. They hadn't been sent away for forensics, but the officer in charge said she had viewed the images on the phone. He had a solicitor with him and was honest throughout.
He has been one of the lucky ones. It was 5 months before he turned 18 and if it had gone on longer than that he would have been dealt with as an adult. Instead, the police referred him to the youth offending team, we were scrutinized as a family by social services and he did several meetings with various agencies referred to by the police. Our experience is that everyone was kind to him and he was open and honest with everyone and ready and willing to engage in whatever courses they wanted. This definitely helped him.
Meanwhile, I was straight on to Stop it Now and got him enrolled in the young persons programme. We also got him an emergency (private) referaral for an assessment of autism and this was confirmed. There is no doubt this held massive sway with the final decision, made by a panel of police, youth offending team and others which decided to give him a youth conditional caution just before Christmas. So we went from the bombshell knock on the door to resolution of conditional caution in three months. Incredibly lucky. The caution has now run its course so is over, but obviously it will remain if ever he needs a DBS check.
I struggled so hard to even look at him for ages, I was so disgusted. My husband was brilliant in the early stages but has struggled since. My son is a wonderful, kind hearted and loving boy but for a variety of reasons ended up making some terrible, terrible choices.
I hope you have as good an outcome for your stepson as we had. Normal life does await on the other side. In the meantime, look after yourself and your partner too, I walked around in a trance for most of those three awful months. Much love.
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My son had just turned 16 when we got the knock and had a MASSIVE file downloaded off the web ,with all 3 catagories ,but police only count 200 of each .I enrolled him straight away on the young inform program ,and he was given a caution .The funny thing is I actually wish it had been a bit harsher ,with some restrictions,because just 3 years later he was arrested for grooming a child and blackmail .The inform course is amazing BUT short .If you can ,please arrange for as much help ,longterm,as addiction unfortunately isn't just cured,after a few sessions ,look at alcoholics etc !! I really hope your son gets a linient sentence off the police ,as he is really a child himself ,and he has the chance to reform ,but please don't make the mistake I made as a mum ,believing it was just a phase ....It's an addiction ,and needs to be treated as such,very rarely is it just cured .It:s so sad that you and your son are in this position ,and hopefully the police don't take forever with their decision as I know how agonising the wait is .Because he is a minor the police should be regularly in touch with you with progress ,so don't be scared to ring if they aren't .
My heart goes out to you both ,I hope your nightmare ends soon and you can both rebuild your lives x
My heart goes out to you both ,I hope your nightmare ends soon and you can both rebuild your lives x