I am a sex offender father please help me
Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2016 9:05 pm
So, please be nice but I desperately need some advice about the long term implications of my family's situation.
I was arrested last year for possession of indecent images and bailed. I could not return home to my wife and daughter (aged 2) and was only allowed access under supervision by (at first) my extended family members and then eventually my wife was allowed to supervise me out and about (but not inside my temporary address for some reason). This was under the terms of my bail and supervision conditions were set by CS.
I was eventually charged and prosecuted in November after being on bail for 8 months. I received a suspended prison sentence, supervison (probation meetings) for 18 months, community service and a SOPO allowing police officers to check my internet history on request. Also 10 years on the sex offenders register.
On the night of the sentence CS came to both my wife's and my current address to get us to sign an interim order that restricts me seeing my daughter at all outside of 2 hours a week supervised by CS whilst they carry out assessments. I am also not allowed to facetime/skype or have my wife send me pictures of our daughter. They informed us that they were raising the case status to child protection and also public law outline (PLO) at the same time.
At the moment CS are dragging everything out having multiple meetings for both child protection and PLO where the exact same information is laboriously repeated.
I have now had my parenting assessment interviews by CS and an interview with police offender management unit who are completing an 'ARMS' assessment. This week CS are finishing my wife's interviews and then I assume taking several weeks to fill in the pamphlet that is the parenting assessment and pass to 'managers' for a decision.
Throughout the last 2 months it has become quite apparent that CS's intention is to convince my wife to end or marriage and not allow me back to the family home. They have presented her as a risk by the fact that she continues to stand by me and also because she wrote me a character reference for the court. She has stated that she does not believe I would harm any child and this has contributed to CS's assertion I am a risk. The PLO letter that they wrote to both of us stated that our child was at risk of being taken into care.
They have presented my wife with details of the images in relation to my conviction to try and convince her I am a danger to children and stated that I will never be allowed unsupervised access to my children ever again until they are 18. FYI my wife is pregnant and giving birth in May so there is also going to be a pre birth assessment as well (more paperwork!!)
However CS recently seem to have conceded and accepted that I will be going home and resuming a family life because 'they cant be involved forever'. They have described how my wife will have to attend a barnados course teaching her how to look for signs of abuse.
As a bit of background both my wife and I are university educated and both held good jobs with firms in the Big four accountancy practices. We had a joint income of around £130K up until recently when I was fired and had no history of drink or drug problems and no other dysfunction or previous arrests or convictions. We own our own home in a very nice affluent area in the north of england.
My presentence report and current probation service reports all show that I have shown remorse for my conviction and an understanding of my behaviour. There was never any suggestion or evidence (nor would there be) that I had ever contacted children online or attempted to abuse or conduct contact offences or promote or distribute Images. It seems however that CS consider my crimes to be on par with child rapists etc.
My wife heard recently that my 'ARMS' report says that I am a low risk of reoffending.
My question to the forum is this; how would I go about challenging (legally) CS's seemingly concrete decision that I would never be allowed to supervise my children alone? The implications for my wife on our future life together are severe as she would effectively be never allowed to go out alone or exercise in the mornigs before work for example without asking another family member to chaperone me (she has no family where we live either)
I have a son due in May and would never be able to take him to the football etc or take my daughter (who loves me so much it breaks my heart saying goodbye every Monday) out shopping or whatever and just do normal fatherley activities.
At the moment (if we were so inclined) we could ignore the interim order and conditions set by CS and I assume they would progress matters to the family court? We are of course not going to do this as I understand complying with CS is the only option at the moment to not risk a care order.
However how do I, perhaps in the future once my supervison period of 18 months is complete, challenge CS not allowing me unsupervised access?
What is confusing is that the lady who supervises sex offenders who initially met with me when i met with the offender management unit police officer has told me that other men she deals with who have been convicted of indecent images possession are allowed unsupervised access as it would be 'unreasonable and unworkable' to expect otherwise.
Is this therefore a grey area? What view would a family court judge take to balance the human right to a family life with CS's opinions on my level of risk?
It is worth noting that the crown court judge did have powers at his disposal to impose restrictions on me having unsupervised access to children and/or other impositions on behaviour in the community but chose NOT to impose any such SOPO
Thanks for reading. Any help would be most welcome. FYI i do have a solicitor dealing with the PLO but it would be helpful to know what is a typical outcome in these circumstances.
I was arrested last year for possession of indecent images and bailed. I could not return home to my wife and daughter (aged 2) and was only allowed access under supervision by (at first) my extended family members and then eventually my wife was allowed to supervise me out and about (but not inside my temporary address for some reason). This was under the terms of my bail and supervision conditions were set by CS.
I was eventually charged and prosecuted in November after being on bail for 8 months. I received a suspended prison sentence, supervison (probation meetings) for 18 months, community service and a SOPO allowing police officers to check my internet history on request. Also 10 years on the sex offenders register.
On the night of the sentence CS came to both my wife's and my current address to get us to sign an interim order that restricts me seeing my daughter at all outside of 2 hours a week supervised by CS whilst they carry out assessments. I am also not allowed to facetime/skype or have my wife send me pictures of our daughter. They informed us that they were raising the case status to child protection and also public law outline (PLO) at the same time.
At the moment CS are dragging everything out having multiple meetings for both child protection and PLO where the exact same information is laboriously repeated.
I have now had my parenting assessment interviews by CS and an interview with police offender management unit who are completing an 'ARMS' assessment. This week CS are finishing my wife's interviews and then I assume taking several weeks to fill in the pamphlet that is the parenting assessment and pass to 'managers' for a decision.
Throughout the last 2 months it has become quite apparent that CS's intention is to convince my wife to end or marriage and not allow me back to the family home. They have presented her as a risk by the fact that she continues to stand by me and also because she wrote me a character reference for the court. She has stated that she does not believe I would harm any child and this has contributed to CS's assertion I am a risk. The PLO letter that they wrote to both of us stated that our child was at risk of being taken into care.
They have presented my wife with details of the images in relation to my conviction to try and convince her I am a danger to children and stated that I will never be allowed unsupervised access to my children ever again until they are 18. FYI my wife is pregnant and giving birth in May so there is also going to be a pre birth assessment as well (more paperwork!!)
However CS recently seem to have conceded and accepted that I will be going home and resuming a family life because 'they cant be involved forever'. They have described how my wife will have to attend a barnados course teaching her how to look for signs of abuse.
As a bit of background both my wife and I are university educated and both held good jobs with firms in the Big four accountancy practices. We had a joint income of around £130K up until recently when I was fired and had no history of drink or drug problems and no other dysfunction or previous arrests or convictions. We own our own home in a very nice affluent area in the north of england.
My presentence report and current probation service reports all show that I have shown remorse for my conviction and an understanding of my behaviour. There was never any suggestion or evidence (nor would there be) that I had ever contacted children online or attempted to abuse or conduct contact offences or promote or distribute Images. It seems however that CS consider my crimes to be on par with child rapists etc.
My wife heard recently that my 'ARMS' report says that I am a low risk of reoffending.
My question to the forum is this; how would I go about challenging (legally) CS's seemingly concrete decision that I would never be allowed to supervise my children alone? The implications for my wife on our future life together are severe as she would effectively be never allowed to go out alone or exercise in the mornigs before work for example without asking another family member to chaperone me (she has no family where we live either)
I have a son due in May and would never be able to take him to the football etc or take my daughter (who loves me so much it breaks my heart saying goodbye every Monday) out shopping or whatever and just do normal fatherley activities.
At the moment (if we were so inclined) we could ignore the interim order and conditions set by CS and I assume they would progress matters to the family court? We are of course not going to do this as I understand complying with CS is the only option at the moment to not risk a care order.
However how do I, perhaps in the future once my supervison period of 18 months is complete, challenge CS not allowing me unsupervised access?
What is confusing is that the lady who supervises sex offenders who initially met with me when i met with the offender management unit police officer has told me that other men she deals with who have been convicted of indecent images possession are allowed unsupervised access as it would be 'unreasonable and unworkable' to expect otherwise.
Is this therefore a grey area? What view would a family court judge take to balance the human right to a family life with CS's opinions on my level of risk?
It is worth noting that the crown court judge did have powers at his disposal to impose restrictions on me having unsupervised access to children and/or other impositions on behaviour in the community but chose NOT to impose any such SOPO
Thanks for reading. Any help would be most welcome. FYI i do have a solicitor dealing with the PLO but it would be helpful to know what is a typical outcome in these circumstances.