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Ex partner arrested for CSAM and I'm scared he could get unsupervised access to our toddler (TRIGGER WARNING)

30 replies

blueberrychipmuffins · 15/05/2023 23:13

I feel down and don't know what to do.

Long story short, I found CSAM (A being the worst) on my ex's phone. I confronted him and he admitted to suffering from a porn addiction and that his addiction got so bad he fell into a rabbit hole. He admitted that the pictures were of all categories (A,B,C - A being the worse. I won't describe what each category entails as I don't want to upset anyone, but you can find the descriptions on Google) and featured all ages (infants, toddlers, all the way up to teenagers). We have a toddler together.

I called the police and he admitted it to the officers that came to our house. However, he backtracked and denied everything the next day during his interview with the investigator).

The investigator called me and told me that. They also said that they had almost finished scanning his laptop and hadn't found anything and were really surprised and asked if there was perhaps a misunderstanding. They implied that there was a chance they would not find anything on his phone either because it's harder to recover deleted contents on some apps on mobile devices. something along those lines. I suggested recording him but they just said I could do that but it would make the process lengthy and messy.

That was only an initial scan as it usually takes three rounds or so and takes around one or two years to scan everything in depth, but I am so scared they won't find anything, he'll apply for shared custody, and get unsupervised access to our child.

His mum excused his behaviour saying she "understood I was upset, as it must affect my self confidence that my husband watches porn" - completely dismissing the fact that the issue is that he watched children - that "most men do it", and it was "unfair he got arrested".

So I don't trust her for supervisions AT ALL either. But I have no proof of what she said.

I am really worried. What do I do?

OP posts:
bottleofbeer · 17/05/2023 17:28

The desk sergeants in custody when he was taken in should have filled in a safeguarding form when he was booked in. They should also have contacted social services.

Obviouspretzel · 17/05/2023 18:42

The police response you have described is outrageous. Why are they minimising images of child abuse? They seem to regard it as no big deal from how you describe it - basically that they can't find the evidence and can't really be that arsed to look.

blueberrychipmuffins · 17/05/2023 18:53

That's the impression I had. That or they truly believed he hasn't done anything.

From what I've read, the initial scan is to find anything that's on the surface. The second and third scans are to find deleted and encrypted content. I'm hoping it is the case.

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bottleofbeer · 17/05/2023 19:51

Don't assume they're not taking it seriously. I am not police but work closely with them (the higher ranks) it's nowhere near as dramatic as the documentaries like 24 hours in police custody would have you believe. It's all so....normal. So when people don't get a big response they tend to think it's because it's not being taken seriously. It is.

Someone brought in on suspicion of murder? It becomes as ordinary as photocopying in an office. That sounds so bad but it has to be like that or we'd go nuts. But it does get taken seriously in as much as it ever can as written in law.

Coulditreallybe · 25/05/2023 12:52

Hope you’re ok @blueberrychipmuffins

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