AIBU: sex offender at my social gathering

[HoppyFish]

Hi folks. Not sure this is the best place to post this but I value your advice. I have been going to a nice life drawing session for years. Nothing sexual about it, it's more of a social gathering, with music, a cuppa, bit of food, and drawing/painting with fellow artists. However, there's a man, in his sixties, not a professional artist, who makes me uneasy. He is always quick to befriend any young female attendees or models, and invites them to his studio or home for photoshoots (for portrait work) and possibly painting. I suppose some people would describe him as a 'creep'. He never asks males, middle-aged or older women. He also sometimes stops drawing early, moves position, and sits staring at the model (when female) as if in a trance. Now, I suppose there is nothing wrong in any of this - an amateur artist wanting to paint portraits maybe wants to specialise in young females. And maybe when staring at the model without drawing he is simply studying anatomy or light and shadow. Anyway, my uneasiness led me to do a little online research on him, and I have discovered that he was jailed for downloading indecent images and mainly videos of children, levels 1 (most serious) to 5, involving men having sex with girls, aged between 2 and 9. He was jailed for a year and spent 10 years on the register. I expect he came off the register around four years ago. I think I am the only one who knows this, and it makes me feel even more uneasy about him. But is there anything to be concerned about? All the models and attendees at the life drawing session are over eighteen. I suppose I should just let him get on with his hobby, but I can't help continuing to feel uneasy, especially when I see him swapping numbers with every new young woman who he encounters. I expect they are impressed by the 'portrait artist' wanting to paint them, but I wonder if they would be keen to pose for him if they knew what I knew, and if they knew he never seems to produce any finished paintings? Am I being unreasonable? Thanks for your time.

Surely he's better off doing something completely legal and open, rather than downloading child sex abuse pictures.

Of course but if you were genuinely repentent of your crimes and wanted to protect the rest of society from your disgusting impulses then you wouldn't be acting the creep with young women in a life drawing class. The fact that he's doing this suggests he's dangerous.

And what exactly do you expect them to do about a man with a spent conviction who is not on the SOR attending an adult education class? 😀

I apologise for calling him a rapist. He’s still a nonce though.

@xyz111

Well of course no I wouldn't want a sex offender ogling me naked.

But I wouldn't sign up to be a life model where participants don't have to be vetted. As adults we have choices about the activities we participate in and we assess the risks accordingly

Exactly.

Befriending young models who may very well be single mothers trying to earn a bit of extra cash.

Right out of Paedo 101 - befriend people to gain access to children.

Definitely tell the organiser.

But since shes there and has the info and there are young women in vulnerable positions, then it is now her responsibility to warn others so they can make safe choices.
What on earth is wrong with you?

Everyone saying he served his time etc, I would agree it wouldn’t be clear cut if he was being perfectly pleasant and normal, trying to turn his life around etc and OP had discovered this about him, but she only did some research because he is being such a creep! So I don’t think he is entitled to be in the class and people should be warned.

I’m a guy- not that its relevant. But I wouldn’t have any issues blowing a lid on someone like that.

He's got a track record of being a convicted sex offender and looks to be engaging in efforts to groom young women. He's chosen an activity in which he can look at and obtain his own images of young women. That's not consistent with rehabilitation - that's a guy who's an active risk to young girls and women. I'd report him anonymously to the class organiser/organisation. I'd also consider flagging up to the police - it's not necessarily an offence to go to the class, but could add to other information they might have about him.

It says he downloaded and watched vile videos, not that he was an actual rapist. I know that’s not much better, but maybe the sentence is much lighter?

Jesus, if I was a woman modelling naked for this class, I'd want to know one of the men in the room was JAILED for owning abuse material where men were having sex with 2-9 year old girls.

He served his time

He served his time in terms of the court system. So he should, according to those rules, be free from jail, which he is. A judge, or you, or this man, does not get to decide what penalty he pays socially. The information about him is clearly publicly available. OP is free to share that, and if women (or anyone else) do not want to be in his company in any capacity, then they should have that choice.

Thank you everybody. I will be making the organiser aware. In case some of you are getting the wrong impression, we have a mix of male and female models, mostly middle age to old age but also some younger. The man in question has had three young attendees that I'm aware of pose for him (for portraits, not nudes). I'm aware that he's asked one young female model (late twenties maybe), and he asked the model last week (maybe early thirties), and swapped numbers, when the usual organiser was away. This was when I noticed the more blatant staring. I suppose my concern is that he moved to another town before this one, where he has maybe found some form of normality. But I find him too creepy, especially knowing what I know, so I just need to decide how to make the organiser aware.

@Mumofoneandone
Tricky? There is nothing tricky about it, beyond the awkwardness of telling the organiser.
Our boundaries are too weak, no wonder Tras run roughshod over us.
We want to be kind and 'reasonable' and thats what is exploited, again and again and again.
A certain kind of man views us as weak because of it, they have a point.

He is crossing a line isn’t he. He can’t download images of anyone as we will be monitored I expect. This way he is looking without touching. My worry would be that he is getting some kind of satisfaction from it and not the artistic kind. Also inviting them to his house seems very unsafe to me. Yes report to whoever runs the class along with your information that you have written on here. I would do it anonymously.

Print out the information and anonymously tape it up in the ladies loo at the next class

He must be reported I am pretty sure he would be banned from this group regardless if his conviction is spent. He will be on offenders list for life!

Fuck that.

He's a rapist and paedophile.
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You think someone stops being a sex offender just because their time on the register runs out?

Serving his time does not make him rehabilitated and he should be banned from this type of activity as I am sure he knows.

He isn’t on the offenders registry for life he’s off it now

But ‘Life ‘ drawing is in the name, drawing from life. Sketching classical carved stone statues ( no need for new tech) is already part of training to observe proportion etc but when you are drawing a model it’s not a static experience. You usually have some warm up 2 -5 minute poses , then longer holds of 30 mins to an hour with stretch breaks - standing, sitting , turning. You see the musculature beneath the skin, see how shadow changes, have the chance to draw profile, or straight on with foreshortening without everyone having to,play musical easels to,get a different angle.

Not all models are pretty young girls - it’s a joy to draw those older, male and female, with more skin folds or wrinkles because features are easier to anchor. The young women ( and men) I have experienced tend to be dancers or aerial artistes ( Cirque du Soleil style) who have amazing strength to hold tricky poses and understand their bodies. Other models are artists themselves who understand light and shadow and who can suggest poses according to the available light.

i have the greatest respect for the models, it’s not easy money at all and if there is the suggestion of disrespect from those drawing ( or rather not drawing but ogling) then it needs to be nipped in the bud straight away.

The concerning thing is that child sex abusers groom the adults to get to their child. Who knows if that's why he befriends younger women who potentially have young children themselves. I wouldn't keep quiet, he may have served his time as a pp said however I don't believe this sort of predilection can be rehabilitated.

No average time on sex offenders list is 15 years is he rehabilitated ? Not if he is engaged in what should be a normal activity but in his case is not Report asap