Family and Friends Forum

Hi All

I'm feeling more traumatised than I think I have ever felt. On Friday morning 7.20 we had a loud urgent knocking at our door. I went to look and there were 3 police officers. I was terrified. I opened the door and they told us they had come to investigate sexual images of chilldren which had been shared or downloaded via snap chat from our IP address. They went to the kids rooms and got everyone up and brought us all into the living room.

I have 3 teens - one is a 15 year old boy. They honed in on the teens right away and asked if they could check their phones. Two handed them over and gave the codes but my 15 year old boy didn't want to. He asked if they had a warrant which they did and just kept saying no. This is actually not unlike him - we are terrified that if someone trys to steal his phone he won't give it to them - it's how he reacts when he's scared.

I suspected he might be embarassed about what was on the phone and said I would leave. Not long after one of the male officers came through and said it's him he's admitted it - but if it's what he says it is we probably won't charge him - no one wants to convict a child. He told them the code but the phone was dead so they took it away.

We went through and my son was sobbing and spent the rest of the day in bed saying how embarrased he was. He only ate last night. I spoke to him and he said he had come across pictures of girls that looked 16- 18 and had looked at them. He vowed nothing else. However he said I think I know what happened - he said him and his friend went onto a site and were winding people up that were looking for pictures of kids. They were pretending to be young children and saying we will send pictures of us to you - sometimes they would get sent £5 and then they would block them. He said they never ever sent anything but he was sure that was the problem. Now they have his phone and we have an appointment to go for an interview. We are literally terrified - any advice would be amazing.

You are all so kind, wise and gentle. Thank you so much for your lovely words and support. It means a huge ammount. I will take you advise and contact these numbers and organisations.

Much love and support to you all !

Just wanted to give all you lovely people who gave me such amazing advice an update.

We went to the police station today with a solicitor from Just for Kids.

It was the most awful experience we have ever had. He was questioned under caution in an interview room with a plastic mirror in between him and the police officer.

Police officer came in with a whole heap of discs and made them very explicit. My son wanted to talk to the solicitor on his own.

When we left the room the police officer told us that they hadn't found much on his phone but they had found some indecent images that he had snapped on snap chat. She said they were mainly from girls in his age group but there were some younger (category B and C)

She said they were sending the phone for analysis and that he would not get it back. She said that their systems were not very good and that the lab would be able to find everything there was but it will take 3 months to a year. She said she would then take it to her boss who would decide if it goes to the crown prosecution - who will decide if it's referered to court.

His solicitor said my son was desperate to talk but that he had advised him to make a statement that the solicitor read out.

He is absolutely shattered - the light has completely gone out in his eyes and I just feel like his world has collapsed. My heart is just broken.

She also said that she would be holding a professionals meeting and they would invite school, social worker, CAHMS etc. Not sure where that will take us. Any advise very gratefully recieved.

I've only just joined this group but the stories are just so difficult to read - families torn apart. I know this is a really difficult issue and I have teen girls myself but the distruction is such catastrophic.