Should we have been warned by CS?

[Murray72]

Hi,
I have no involvement with CS anymore but in the past I had a lot of involvement and one of my children was removed for a long period of time.

My ex husband was convicted of a number of child sex offences in 2010, we as a family have had no further involvement with him since before this time, however yesterday we got a bit of a shock as he was plastered all over the front page of the news and has continued to offend and has now received a lengthy sentence finally. My question is should we have been informed so I could prepare the children for this shock? They are not upset as they understand his actions now, they are however embarrassed and ashamed.

Should either CS or the Police have a duty of care to the children ?

Thanks in advance.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Murray72

Thank you for your post.

I am so sorry that despite no longer being involved in anyway with your ex-husband his behaviour continues to cause you and your children such distress.

It must be upsetting for your children to have the embarrassment of having to cope with the disclosures made in the news.

Whilst I understand that you would want to prepare your children for such revelations, I do not think there is any mechanism within Children Services for them to be made aware of your ex-husband’s criminal trial by the police. You have not been involved with them for a significant period of time and there would really be no necessity for the police to give them information about you and your family since your ex-husband has no involvement with you and your children. Children Services' file is closed and they would not be in contact with the police about your family.

In the same way, I do not think the police would make contact with you about your ex-husband as it was not a case that directly affected you. I fully appreciate that you and your children are affected indirectly because of the news reports. However, unless the court put reporting restrictions on the press, there would be nothing to stop the report. It may be that if journalists were aware of your connection they might have tried to contact you as part of their investigations about your ex-husband.

You may wish to find out from the police whether you were entitled to receive information from them about the fact of your ex-husband’s arrest. I do not, however, think there would be a necessity to inform you unless you were victims in the case.

I know and can understand that it seems unfair not to pre-warn you but neither the police or Children Services are required to inform you or have any control over what is written in the press.

As far as I know there is no legal requirement for you to be informed although it could be said there is a moral one. I hope you will be able to continue to support your children at this difficult and the news will lose its impact over time.

Perhaps you would like to contact victim support on 0808 168 9111 who might be able to give you more help about this.

Best wishes

Suzie