difficult subject - help please

[50gradesofshy]

I live close by a family where the dad is a convicted paedophile - serious child porn, in all the local papers etc 5 years ago though. Something is not right. the young boy of the family age 6 has been using the foulest language and really vulgar sexual terminology when outside. I mean really dirty inapproriate stuff. I won't repeat it on here. The woman seems really nice although we are not friends iykwim. There is also another younger child too.
Now the man has started to keep guns in his house and go shooting. I don't know about licenses but thought you would have to have no criminal record? I worry that I should or should not step up and say something, what if I don't and something is wrong here. WWYD?

Phone social services and report what you know.

How is a convicted paedophile allowed to live with children??

How do you know all this?

Loopy - they are neighbours - everyone here knows. I would NEVER speculate about something like this. I am genuinely worried.

If its true phone SS. If its gossip but you have real concerns phone SS.
If its true I would expect they already kniw

Yes then, do call SS. And the police.

how the hell do you know?

Definitely call your local Children's Services and tell them your concerns.

I would be very surprised if the guy genuinely is a convicted paedophile as I would expect that Probation and Children's Services would be all over this!

That said every now and again cases fall through the net, (although again if 'everyone's knows about him its highly unlikely it would be missed) so maybe he is a convicted paedophile, in which case his children cannot be considered to be safe whilst he lives in the house.

As for guns, perhaps they are air rifles, which do not require licenses? Or maybe he isn't a convicted paedophile?

I would still call Children's Services. They can check out his background very quickly and easily!

No one with any criminal record, no matter how long ago, is allowed a shotgun or firearms licence. Air rifles don't need a licence and can be owned by anyone though there are legal restrictions on how powerful the gun can be before it is classified as a "firearm".

If you do have concerns about the children then you should inform Social Services. If he is a convicted paedophile it may be that he also is restricted from being with young children.

It's not clear from your post whether he received a prison sentence after his conviction, but this is from the Metropolitan Police's guidelines of firearms: "A person who has been sentenced to imprisonment, detention or corrective training for a term of three years or more is permanently prohibited from having any firearms or ammunition in their possession. This means for life and includes all firearms, even air weapons. A person sentenced to imprisonment, detention or corrective training for a period of over three months but less than three years is prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition for five years from date of release."

Criminal convictions not involving a prison sentence must be declared when applying for a firearm license but do not necessarily exclude somebody from owning a firearm. And grotesque as the crime is, being guilty of downloading images of child sexual abuse doesn't automatically mean that this man is likely to commit a violent offence involving guns.

I don't think there's any harm in reporting your concerns about his guns to the police - they can easily ascertain whether or not he has a license and take action if necessary. It's perfectly normal for members of the public who have no reason to have in-depth knowledge about who may or may not own a firearm to be concerned if they see a neighbour openly displaying one!

Whether a convicted sex offender is allowed to live with their children depends on their offence and/or the similarities between their children and their victims or whether their children were their victims. There is no stock answer. If this man is guilty 'only' of downloading images of child sexual abuse, it's possible that he has been impact assessed by Child Services and Probation as safe to remain with his family, as no actual physical abuse has been committed by him and he has not reoffended in the years since the conviction. Perhaps a call to the NSPCC about your concerns over the son's language and behaviour might help put your mind at ease about whether you should think about contacting SS?