help and advice needed

[adviceformum]

So my husband was arrested just over a week ago for iioc I knew nothing about it, appears a girl told him she was older than she was and she sent him images. She also asked for money which he stupidly sent. He is currently on bail and allowed tomlive at home with me and our 10 year old son, but no unsupervised contact, while they investigate his phone I believe him when he tells me there is nothing else and there is only a handful of pictures but I'm not coping too well my mental health is off the scale and I'm on medication for my panic attacks and anxiety. I'm just after some support and advice I guess.How long is this expected to go on for and what can I expect to happen? His bail conditions say 3 months but a police officer on the phone told me 28 days. I'm hardly sleeping been signed off work and not stopped crying for 9 days!

[Bossman1959]

I here what you are saying this is a very upsetting situation to be in.
I am not sure about how long it will take for the
investigation as it would depend on the officers dealing with it and thier current workload.
I have known bail set at 28 days and the investigation being over at that point, with a comment of " no further action" leaving the accused to have no closure as they are not saying guilty or not guilty.
However if the investigation is not complete by the deadline he was bailed for, which was 3 months, they are able to extend the bail indefinately I beleive as a person of interest.

I am sorry that is probably not what you want to hear, however it does at least make it clearer as to what may happen.
The police officer in charge of the case should have made this clear for you.
Keep you chin up,you have done nothing wrong.
Try and stay focused on your son, he will probably be feeling all sorts of emotions.
You need to be strong for him and try to keep life as normal as possible. Hard I know but you can do this.

[adviceformum]

Thanks for your reply nobody is telling me anything I do t seem to matter. Our son knows nothing trying to keep things as normal as possible as he wouldn't understand it plus with my husband being here we don't to rock his world until we need to. The police officer that rang me said 28days but the police Sergent that interviewd my husband has bailed him for 3 months so he doesn't have to keep reporting to the police station for an extension, according to what my husband has said. Can this be changed and bail be ended if the case is dealt with before the 3 months is up?

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Adviceformum,

Welcome to the parents’ forum and thankyou for your post. I am sorry to hear about the difficult time that you are going through and hope that the following is helpful to you.

Your partner has been arrested for possession of indecent images and has been released on bail with the condition that he is not to have any unsupervised contact with your son. You ask some questions about the police investigation and how long your partner is likely to have bail conditions for – I would suggest your partner consults his solicitor in regards to this as his solicitor will have all the details of the situation and will be best placed to advise.

You don’t mention anything about children’s services involvement but due to the nature of the allegation against your partner and the bail conditions he is under it is likely that children’s services will become involved (if they are not already). You can find detailed information on our website HERE about children’s services involvement when there is concern that a child is at risk of sexual abuse. Children’s services will likely carry out their own assessment of the situation and may consider whether your son needs to be subject to a child protection plan or child in need plan. If they feel that your son is at risk of significant harm and is unsafe in the home they will also consider whether they need to start care proceedings to keep him safe. I would suggest that you read the information on our website that the hyperlinks take you to, and as things progress if you have further questions please either post again or contact our helpline (details below).

I would encourage you to seek support for yourself as this is a very distressing time for you. ACTSFAST is an organisation that supports families impacted by indecent images and you can self-refer through their website. You mention that your mental health is suffering; please do seek support through your GP (perhaps request some talking therapy) and if you are in need of confidential emotional support then Supportline can be contacted on 01708 765200 or you could contact Mind to find out about services in your local area. The Samaritans support people 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and can be contacted on 116 123 for free.

Your partner might find it helpful to contact Safer Lives as they provide support during investigations into online sexual offences.

I hope that this is of some help. Please post again if you would like any further advice or you can call our free confidential helpline on 0808 801 0366 (Monday to Friday, 9:30am – 3pm) to speak with an adviser.

Best wishes,
Suzie

[adviceformum]

Thank you for you help and advice. I have reached out to my GP and am awaiting a call back in relation to some councelling to help me through these scary and anxious times.
we have had 1 visit from child services but nothing since, she has assured me my son won't be taken away from me so that is 1 less worry at the moment.
My husbands solicitor is under the impression that it's the end of Feb as per the bail conditions that we will hear anything from the police.
We have slotted into a kind of different routine in regards to my husbands bail conditions. It's just the waiting and not knowing as he's on pre charge bail so we have no idea of the charges at the moment. I know we are in for a long bumpy road.

[FVB6J8]

I am currently in a similar situation. I was wondering if you could provide a timeline? Especially how long the forensics took?