A father of one the children in my child's class has been convicted of possessing and making child pornography. He was given a 12 month prison sentence that was suspended for 18 months, he's on the sex-offenders’ register (SOR) for the next 10 years and he's got a 10 year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).
The only reason I know about this is that the related news article was briefly posted on the local FB group - one of the admins of the group removed it a few minutes later. The school haven't acknowledged it or addressed it at all with the wider school community.
AIBU to think there should be some sort of notification system for parents when someone who is a parent of a child at the same school as your child is convicted for child porn (or any similar offence) and added to the SOR?
I do appreciate it's a really difficult situation for all involved, especially the child of the man who's been convicted, but I think the school should have discreetly informed the other parents and shared any related safeguarding policies for reassurance i.e. confirmed to all he would no longer be allowed at school for drop off, pick up or events.
If I hadn't happened to see the article when it was briefly on Facebook (or heard through others who saw it in time) we'd have absolutely no idea. We could have accepted invitations to play dates or parties at their house unknowingly.
What also worries me is how difficult I've found it to find any concrete advice or information on what someone like this man is allowed to do and where he is allowed to go. I am pretty sure he's not allowed in the school grounds anymore, but from what I've read he could still take his kids to the local swimming pool or to the local park... But then there's some conflicting information on this!
YABU: it's your job to do your own due diligence and check that every parent of every child at your child's school isn't on the SOR.
YANBU: the school should have sent out a discreet notification to parents at the school for awareness.