My partner is about to be sentenced for something that happened. He was in a group where someone sent indecent images to everyone and they automatically saved onto his phone, he did not notice this as lots of other images were sent at the same time and didn't know about their existence until the police turned up. He still technically committed an offence because they were saved to his phone and there is no way of proving that he didn't see them. (please don't give me advice on whether to believe him, I do and there is no reason not too.) We have a 2 month old daughter but I want to adopt/foster in the future. He will be on the register for probably 5 years.
There is a blanket ban on all sex offenders adopting or fostering, however I can see that many people have challenged this, because you can be put on the register for many things such as public urination. My question is, would we even be allowed to apply in the future, and would they look at the facts of his case? He has a young brother and lives with our daughter and social services have assessed and said there is no risk there, would this be taken into account or would we have to go to court like others.