To wish we were told about paedophiles (trigger warning)

[ChocHotolate]

I have recently discovered that a man living close to me (and close to a big nursery) is a notorious (police used this word) paedophile, well known to police in an area a few miles away. He even had a van "kitted out". He had recently been found guilty of horrendous CSA and is waiting sentence. He has been in prison for this before.
He lived in a property close to where the local ice cream van stops daily in the summer and he would always try and chat to my kids.
I totally understand the implications of publicising this type of info and I am definitely not advocating any sort of vigilante activity. However, I feel so uncomfortable knowing that he was so close and still actively a predator. His brother still lives in the property
All the above info was in a newspaper article about him which is how I know so much now

Vwry hard to strike the right balance imo between sharing enough to be useful and scaring the public. I would also worry about people having a false sense of security if they thought that they would be alerted to any risky individuals near them.

I think that having robust safety measures in place within our own families is the safest thing.

Personally I don't think paedophiles are ever safe to live freely in society and should live in secure units for life.

Sadly paedoes have to live somewhere when then are released from custody. They should never be housed near schools or playgrounds, although it probably wouldn't stop them offending one way or another. The jail sentences should be stiffer to deter them.from offending, although again, that wouldn't stop them . At least when behind bars they can't attack children

It sounds silly but he just looked so dodgy. I know stereotypes are unhelpful, but honestly if you could imagine a dirty old man, that is what he looks like.
I was always polite, and just assumed that the dodgy vibes I got from him were more about my prejudices than anything else. Children were at risk here (and still being harmed in a neighbouring borough) because his privacy was protected

I don't know how you can put that information out and not expect vigilante action, plus the whole innocent until proven thing.

It is horrible. I discovered that someone I went to school with who still lives with his parents in a house overlooking my parents' garden where my DC played had done similar, but realistically knowing this doesn't alter the risk to your DC.

The police could only ever tell you about men that have already been convicted, you can never know about the ones who haven't been caught yet, sadly. So in terms of reducing risk to children, it's better to look at effective safeguarding measures for your children and in situations where children are with other adults.

I totally understand the implications of publicising this type of info and I am definitely not advocating any sort of vigilante activity.

But by publicising it that is what you will get. Your children are at risk from many things including predators, known and unknown. The best way you can keep your children safe is to teach them to be streetwise and look after themselves.

I’m a big believer that there is a paedophile on every corner. I don’t believe that they have any right to privacy and think that they will always reoffend if given the chance but, overall, it’s better that the authorities know where they are, rather than they go into hiding because of vigilantes and the police can’t track them down when they need to.

Realistically, there’s more chance of children being harmed by someone they already know, but in this instance, I think the best you can do is to drum stranger danger into them and give them the confidence to say no to an adult.

My head knows that you are correct. But my heart is angry that his pervert was allowed to live opposite a nursery and free to try to talk to my children (yes, I was there) and park his van on the road I walk past everyday

There are a shocking number of child predators in the UK. Statistically people on this thread are married or closely related to men who watch child abuse online. Very very few are ever caught for their online or even real life abuses.

Convicted paedophiles are a serious minority of the men you should be worried about in life.

In Ireland we have an organisation called 1 in 4. That is the estimation of how many children have been sexually abused. 25%. It is fairly safe to say that even if most paedophiles abuse multiple children there is still a paedophile on every corner. Sexual abuse of children is endemic and people simply cannot face up to the scale the issue because it is far too uncomfortable to accept how prolific the behaviour is.

It shouldn't really come as a surprise to you. There are 96000 people on the sex offenders register in UK. That's approx 1 in every 600 adults. He won't be the first one you've come across.