Will lessons really be learnt after this tragic child abuse case?

[Tolkienista]

The horrific case of baby Preston Davey sickeningly abused by his adoptive parents (a teacher and his partner) concluded in a guilty verdict in court yesterday.
The details are too traumatic to contemplate the awful end of this child's life.
Once again the age old phrase "lessons will be learnt" has been quoted and I have to say, will they?

I know life is extremely complicated & I'm in no doubt that the killer of Preston was manipulative, cold hearted and extremely secretive in covering up his abuse of this defenceless little child.
I guess that because abuse generally takes place behind closed doors, child abuse will sadly always be a part of our society.

Utterly utterly tragic.

That's the case:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_and_Zachary_Zulock

It wasn't rushed - in fact the approval process was delayed by several months so that Varley could see that years GCSE cohort thro to the end of their exams

On what basis does it sound rushed to you? What do you know about the adoption process?

Read the last paragraph again.

The CPS says ‘Varley was in the process of adopting baby Preston (also known as Elijah) with his partner McGowan-Fazakerley. Just four months after being placed with the couple…’

So it doesn’t sound like the adoption was complete. Until the child safeguarding practise review is complete, you can’t say it wasn’t rushed.

I’m a single adopter of two and I’m nearly 20 years into my journey. Social work is not an exact science as it involves the unpredictability of human beings. These incidents will happen again because it is simply impossible to eliminate all risk when dealing with the complexity of adults and children. The serious case review to be undertaken by Preston’s placing authority will no doubt highlight lessons to be learned. What I can absolutely guarantee is that the 3,000 children in England waiting for their forever homes will now have to wait a little longer and the numbers of prospective adopters putting themselves on the line to reparent society’s most vulnerable children will nosedive even further.

You haven't heard accurate accounts of social workers taking children home with them because they just wouldn't do that.

You don't know how adoption works.
There was nothing rushed about this. Adopters cannot apply for an adoption order until at least 10 weeks after the child is placed. A child will be placed after matching, which is approved by a panel. Matching only happens after the adopters are approved by a panel. That only happens after they pass a very long assessment. Nothing about what you've said here suggests anything was rushed.

This is a horrific situation but it is thankfully extremely rare. Abusers manipulate everyone and these perverts obviously came across as nice and normal people. There would be no abusers if they were caught as soon as they start

The poor babies abuse was over a short time - from being placed to his murder, they would have been visited and spoken to, many times. Bruises that were noted were very small to start and obviously, the abuse got worse and worse. An elbow injury is very common and wouldn't necessarily raised concerns. With hindsight we can see that tiny boy was tortured, the hospital visits were flagged but each one were fairly minor - I know that new parents are often over cautious so dr visits won't be out of realm of normal

Evil people will do evil things but they will hide it, which is obviously what happened here. Not excusing anything, I just think that the social workers were hoodwinked

As a foster carer, my heart goes out the family that cared for Preston first and I am thankful that they gave him love and safety for the 1st few months of his very short life

No SW's would have been afraid of being called homophobic. There should be more follow ups of all adopted DC. His former foster carers were prevented from seeing Preston.

I’ve been fantasising about visiting Varley in prison under some guise, and somehow causing him extreme harm. Obviously that wouldn’t happen for various reasons, but I wish. And if that makes me look bad for wanting to wreak violence and retribution, I’ll take that.

It is not unlikely that he will be killed by fellow inmates one day, just like this guy:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn8qlxv201vo

I’ve got friends in the police who are so frustrated when it comes to this area of work. One said she visited a house full of crap including dog poo all over the house which could have easily been touched or ingested. Called social services to take the kids. They said the threshold wasn’t high enough. Police were left powerless to do anything. So what happens?!

Family member’s recent experience of social work was them believing her ex who is under police investigation and making a report containing so many factual errors it’s been ruled it can’t be used in court. What an epic waste of time for everyone involved. Just about anyone could have done that job better!

Or have an escort with them

Chief Social Work Officers in Scotland released a joint statement last week about the crisis in care placements in Scotland citing amongst many concerns the fact that social workers have taken children home with them because there was no other safe place to be found. Not only have I heard it, the most senior social workers across 32 local authorities are saying it publicly, which is a bold move indeed. Tell me again that I’m lying.

It wouldn't eradicate child abuse, but a great start would be a) not allowing male only adoptions and b) bringing back the death penalty for serious crimes against children.

The police aren’t powerless, in fact they are the only agency that can use their powers to remove children to a place of safety immediately. There’s no reason they couldn’t have removed the children and forced the issue with social work.

I don't think dog poo all over the house enables police to use their power to remove children.

A knife wielding father, yes.

But not dog poo.

NO!

They will trot out they same of shit lines they do every time, some people’s jobs might get a hit but at the end of the day nothing will change babies will continue to be raped and murdered, women will continue to be raped and murdered, social services will continue to be overwhelmed and fail, nhs will continue to be overwhelmed and fail, double standards will continue to plague every service we have. Things might get shuffled around but nothing will change.

I don’t disagree with you, but the police certainly aren’t powerless if they feel there’s an immediate risk of significant harm. If the police can’t move them immediately social workers won’t be able to do it either.

That sounds completely wrong. A house covered in dog poo would not be below the threshold for social work involvement! Absolutely not

It can do, I have had children come to us under police protection due to disgusting home conditions often including animal waste

I think that this needs to be considered rigorously as part of any review. Did people feel unable
to speak up or clearly articulate what was ‘off’ here because of fear of protected characteristics?
There were numerous red flags and people like the foster carers raised concerns .
Also the fact one was a teacher and safeguarding lead as has already been said.
Sickening case and I hope they both rot and get what’s coming to them.
RIP Preston

I understand why some call for the death penalty, but I cant bring myself to support it. I feel it is the hallmark of a barbaric society. When I first heard of this case I felt the perpetrator should be tortured to death, but now I feel numb as if my mind doesnt want me to think about it. Is that part of why these perpetrators are able to stay under the radar, there are 'mental defense mechanisms' which mean our minds flee from certain thoughts?
He'll (likely) be executed in prison, by another violent person who wants to feel better about his own crimes, who wants to feel exonerated because he killed someone who was even worse than him.

My police friend could not believe that a child in rotting nappy and with sores was not removed.

That nearly broke him.