Heartbreaking. Child abused and then murdered.

[Dilbertian]

Poor Sebastian. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-62163849

Where was his school in all of this? How could ongoing months of abuse not have been noticed and flagged him as a child at risk? Or did the school do this, and Sebastian was failed by agencies further along the line?

We need the death penalty back for scum like this. Absolutely heartbreaking.

Horrendous cases like this will keep arising while parents prioritise their wants before their children's needs, or in fact safety. I'm not sure how we can stop this happening but I do know that the threshold for making reports about concerns should be low, for all of us. There are too many threads where people are dithering about whether they should or not and yes, if you have genuine worries for a child, report and keep reporting.

Covid didn't beat that boy, or harm him.

Covid didn't make that man turn from a lovely bloke who wouldn't harm a fly into a monster.

Covid didn't make that woman turn from a lovely mother into a monster.

This wasn't about Covid.
It was about bad people doing bad things which they would have done at some point even if Covid never happened.

Poor boy. I just can’t understand people who do this, it’s pure evil.

I hope they never find another shred of happiness for the rest of their miserable lives.

This is absolutely sickening and horrible but why @Dilbertian was your first thought to blame school????

From personal experience Schools report and report and record and discuss and pester SS only to get told that they "don't meet the criteria" or "the parent was pleasant when we rang" or "we can't investigate every slight concern"

I have had children in my care that I'm absolutely convinced have terrible home lives but beyond what school are able to provide in the way of support, advice, courses etc we are powerless to change things.

Yet again this poor boy has been the victim of a vulnerable (evil?) mum moving in an evil,abusive parter.
It never bloody well ends.

Probably an unpopular opinion, but never has the ultimate sentence been more fitting.

They should never see the light of day again.
Monsters.

Fucking hell that was not easy to read

That poor poor boy 😔

I can't stop thinking about how that poor boy felt entering his front door, in to what should have been a safe and secure place, day after day.

I hope those vile beings suffer immensely.

Just horrendous, there are no words, I can't even begin to imagine how he felt, just permanently fucking terrified of the one place that should feel safe and the people who should care for him most. It's just sickening.

I read that he proposed to her while the were both in jail awaiting trial or maybe sentencing and she said yes, yes, yes and that she was so excited she'd marry him anywhere in anything. I also read that they kept him off school so school wouldn't see the bruises.

You're assuming they knew of the abuse, chances are they weren't aware. Abuse is an extremely well hidden crime.

I’m not criticising the school - I quite agree that a child with suspected Covid should not be in school. (And am pretty pissed off with dd's school as they are now saying kids should come in with Covid if they feel well enough.)

I’m just saying that Covid had an impact. And that maybe - without Covid - the fact that something was so very wrong could have been spotted in time.

@Namerchangerextraordinaire

Yes, all of that is true.

But covid
provided a handy veil behind which evil was done, and it is known that DV cases rose during the period of national emergency.

Even still there are thousands of children who have simply dropped out of sight. Schools don't know where they are. Contact has been lost.

What is going on in the lives of these children?

No one should be excusing the so called Mother. Watching TV and eating toast! May she rot in hell. Another women I am ashamed to say prioritising her wants and needs over EVERYTHING else.

We're trained that the 'something doesn't feel right' is the most important report we can make.

Because if everybody reports the 'it just doesn't feel right' feeling, it all adds up and children that would be missed otherwise can actually be protected.

I'd be very, very unhappy with two members of staff saying 'well, it was just my thoughts' and almost implying that it's not their fault he didn't tell them anything.

I have only read the headlines…I genuinely cannot bare to read the details.
It really does highlight the fact that teenagers are still so vulnerable…absolutely heartbreaking…what kind of creature sits back watching her child being murdered!

Does anyone agree with me that there seems to be a linked between step-parents and child abuse that needs researching and examing more thoroughly?

this is absolutely true and evidenced but I think there could me more targeted comms to single mothers (via health visitors, schools etc) that it is such a risk.

I say that as a parent of a child who is on a Child in Need Plan and who’s partner has been thoroughly vetted by social services (as well as my own Clare’s Law request before we moved in together). Both me and my partner see SOcial Services initial interest in him as a good thing because it means they really are prioritising them welfare of my child.

Lions do this to promote their own genes. An incoming male lion will kill any existing cubs in the group.

I did not blame the school. I asked about their involvement. There was no mention of the school taking any action in the report I read. Admittedly I did not take Covid into account when I began this thread, but I can see now how Sebastian slipped between all the safeguards as a result of Covid.

I know from personal experience how involved and supportive schools with good pastoral care can be in safeguarding children, and I also know how impotent they can be, despite all their efforts.

It sounds as though he wasn't brought up by his mum. He'd lived with them a couple of years. I imagine he was afraid of being taken away (again?) or having nowhere to go. He won't have had the support network a child who went to primary school had. Very sad.

This wasn't about Covid.
It was about bad people doing bad things which they would have done at some point even if Covid never happened.

But had Covid not happened Sebastian might have been at school for long enough for his situation to be recognised and for him to be rescued.

He was in the country less than a year ,irregardless of covid how ,,he was new to a school in year 10 and a different nationality too ,that is going to be hard on any kid, at 15 unless it's blatantly obvious that a child is being physically abused realistically what can school do?

I read about the is today. Disgusting. I honestly don’t know what the world is coming too. I’m reading these horror stories far too often. He looks like such a lovely precious boy. Did not deserve to be born to a vile revolting monster.

He was at the school less than a year ,even if we hadn't had the disruption of covid that year ,if he was quiet and unassuming, and not causing the school any issue ,s I can well imagine they would have just left him to get in with it

Same. I can't read anymore of these. But he really does look so precious. Tragic that people threat their children so despicably.

True, but the same could be said for every single child who has not yet reached 4/5 years old.
Nobody is expecting them in school, nobody knows if they are at nursery or with childminders.

Why are they supposedly any safer than over 5s?

The overwhelming majority of parents are not monsters.

Monsters are monsters no matter how much you force people to live under the spotlight & it has been proven time & time again that no amount of being at school, being reported to various agencies etc... stops them.

The current system actually discourages any parent who is struggling from reaching out for help (which wouldn't stop the worst) & causes more harm in my opinion but I don't know how you make it better.

There is no funding, so there is no help but there will be an entry on your 'file' & it can be held against you.
Increasing the treatment of parents as more likely to abuse than not isn't the answer though.

It also neatly dodges the whole abuse at school with it's growing rape culture, the increase in children with mental health problems, the odd bad teacher, the suicides as a result of being in school & getting bullied.
For some, home is the only safe space they have.

School or so called 'professionals' are not the answer & teachers barely have time to do their own teaching jobs, let alone become responsible for the whole lives of their pupils.

Nobody was concerned for the kids in Little Teds Nursery who would count as visible.
Vanessa George has been released from prison so it's old news now, but those parents still have to live with what was done to their children as do the children themselves.
How safe were they being 'seen'?

Children are no more safe at school/nursery/scouts etc.. than they are at home.
Predators are everywhere.