Help me out here/ urgent

[Kab13]

At a soft play, 90% sure there's aan taking photos of random children. Seem him sat on his phone with camera on. Told the managers don't seem to be doing much .
Not sure if he got a shot of my dd who ran infront of him. He's acting very shifty.
What do I do?
He's here with his son...

Are you sure he wasn't snap chatting photos of his bored face to his wife?

Some people on this thread are so nasty. OP has posted because she's uneasy about the behaviour of this person, maybe there is something sinister about his behaviour maybe there's not. Those of you who have just mocked her are pathetic though.

It's not nasty to disagree with someone or to challenge someone if you really don't understand what someone is trying to convey. The op asked if her line of thought was r and I think the majority of pp have challenged how she knew and the appropriateness of posting on here and calling the police...wouldn't say that was nasty by mn standards.

Fwiw I get the feeling there is info that the op hasn't shared, some of what she has posted doesn't add up

I also feel fairly sorry for this bloke, hope he was unaware of what was unfolding around him. Really unlikely to be untoward and as far as trusting instincts I listen to my own internal instincts for a nanosecond and then dismiss...would never let dc out of my sight ever if I followed my gut.

I completely get why the OP was concerned. I would be exactly the same if it were my child. A few years ago I was out with a friend & her DD for lunch. After a while we heard clicking sounds of a camera & noticed a man opposite was taking photos of her DD. She asked the man to stop & contacted the police. Later it was discovered that this man was a registered sex offender who had hundreds of photos of children on his phone that he had taken whilst out & about. I'm not saying that this is the case in OP's situation, but it could be & it is worrying that when she posted here for some advice, all she got was abuse for being concerned about her child.

It may not be illegal to take photos of another person's child without permission, but it is bloody rude & an invasion of privacy. This man was clearly not taking photos of his own child based on OPs posts & therefore should not be taking any of the other children present. He knew he was being inappropriate by doing this as he put his phone down when an adult walked past him.
I'm sorry whether anyone likes it or not. That IS odd behaviour & OP had a right to be concerned.

Sadly in RL I have encountered pedophiles (plural) and I sometimes can't believe the hysteria in situations like this sometimes. It will get to the stage where single men won't take their own kids out for fear of accusations. Did OP even see what photos he took? Were they kids or were they selfies?

Idefix I don't remember what you have written so I'm not saying you were being nasty. Some posters have presented alternative reasons for why he have appeared to be taking photos of kids and I think that's helpful and fair enough. Some of the responses were nasty and mocking in tone though. Just looking through some of the other threads this afternoon there does seem to be an unusually high number of nasty, personal responses.

What about this is concerning you?

Yes I think that a lot of the responses could have been reassuring rather than mocking. Uncalled for rudeness here.

I see where the OP is coming from, she is going on a gut feeling and observation. Our soft play does not allow pictures. Why do people have to be so aggressive?

If he is taking pictures of random kids and his son is somewhere else then that's different.
But I take my son to soft play and take pictures of him. Would you be suspect of me or is it just because he is a man. Dad's like taking photos too!

Hid the thread as I was feeling a bit overwhelmed.
Management did in fact contact the police, they were concerned but didn't want him to know they were concerned.
He wasn't taking photos of his son, when he had his phone out his son was nowhere in sight, and older child about 8 so spend the time on his own in the childrens play are.
Both I, the management and two other ladies noticed when walking past him that he had his phone on camera and was quiet obviously taking photos of either the chairs and tables or other peoples children.
Maybe he was taking photos of the chairs.
Poor bloke.
Either way, I'm glad I said something because if he's innocent he's innocent and if he's not he will be caught.
I don't have the energy to go into a full on briefing of where I was at what time, when I said an hour I guessed he had been there for an hour, I actual can't remember how long I was there for but I didn't feel comfortable leaving before I saw management were doing something about it, even of it was just asking him to not take photos in the play area, eventually I had to leave but left my number & they called to tell me the matter was with the police.
Happy new year everyone.

A very realistic outcome.

Alls well then!

Blimey, who needs to watch the soaps tonight when MN has got it all.

They obviously felt it was justifiable. Wasn't my call.
All I did was raise a concern, they and two other women had the same
Concern and they acted on it.
Not up for another debate/slating. I'm exhausted.

Nice to see that on New Year's Eve some people are still popping back onto the thread to have another go at someone who's reporting having had a very unsettling experience today. Happy New Year!

You did all you could do by telling management. Others had the same concern.
It's a good job that not everybody turns a blind eye.
If he's innocent then this will be clarified. If he's not innocent then you may have helped prevent other occurrences.

I said earlier that YANBU. You have to judge the situation as you were there. Words can't always convey the situation.

Some nasty comments on here. Like O.P said she did not ask for nor does she warrant personal attacks. I've seen it all now someone slated for having concerns about children' safetysafety, and to say these are mothers making these comments.
.These things do happen perverts looking for children to abuse. I'm not saying the man is guilty or innocent. I'm not there, but I understand O.P for not wanting to take any chances.

I don't know if they did speak to him.
I left not knowing If they would.
They called me to reassure me the matter was in the hands of the police I didn't dig as to whether or not they had spoken to the man.
They may well have spoken to him and decided it was necessary.
If my posts are confusing I'm sorry I was panicked and a little occupied by my toddler.
Don't know what else to say really.
Hey ho

I don't think people are seeking the thread out to pop back and comment; surely just seeing it when it flips back into Active Convos.

I'm a bit confused about the sequence of events though, and why the soft play staff would contact OP after she had left. If there was anything to follow up, that would be a police matter, not for them.

Op left out the detail about the police because the man might have been reading MN on his phone and would have destroyed the evidence before PC Plod got there. Very cunning.