To wonder What's it like in prison as a category A prisoner child sex offender

[toothfairy73]

The man that abused me and at least 5 others (there will be many more) was convicted as a category A prisoner last year. He got 16 years but can apply for parole after 8. The Judge described him as a serial predatory paedophile (he was convicted of crimes over a 30 year period).

I got an update from the victim liaison officer today (just an annual one) which doesn't tell me much (I'm not allowed to know much). I did wonder (before I opened it) if he had died of coronavirus. He is in his 70's and has cancer. It's left me wondering what life is like for a category A convicted child rapist. I have read that prisoners can have jobs, but wonder if the restrictions are greater for category A. Does anyone know?

I have no idea but I hope it's a living hell.
Sorry for what you went through x

Prisons have a VP wing - Vulnerable Prisoners. They are kept away from the main population for their own safety. Hate that they are all together though to discuss their sick crimes.

Isle of Wight is completely a sex offenders prison.

Hopefully literal hell. I hope they all suffer slowly and painfully too.

I think I'd hope he had a miserable time of it and would try not to give him any more head space. You've suffered enough - don't let him take up any more of your mind, OP.

I know they live constantly in fear of being attacked at any given moment. And their food is very often tampered with. A child rapist is the lowest form of vermin in prisons. Word gets out very easily from the prison officers so you can't ever hide from your crimes in there.

Probably more terrifying for the sex offender. They are truly hated in prison. The other prisoners would happily add on time to their sentence if they could kill one.

Also, I'm sorry you went through that OP

There are only very few Prisons that take Category A prisoners, most people entering the prison system will be re categorised fairly quickly to a Cat B and then C and even eventually to D which is an Open prison. He will likely have a job but in the prison, wing cleaner, on the servers etc although I imagine the options are much more limited in a prison that takes Cat A prisoners. Whilst he will be released at the half way point of his sentence he remains in Licenece and under strict supervision until his sentence expiry date which will be the full term. He can be recalled to custody at any point in that period if he is not abiding by his licence conditions.

Depends on the prison he’s in. However given the offences AND his age he is likely to be on a wing for VP’s. Vulnerable prisoners. Contrary to popular belief they aren’t just for sex offenders. Yes it’s for their own protection but also for the safety of staff. We are human beings too and risk our personal safety on a daily basis as it is. If sex offenders were in the general population it would be even more dangerous for us trying to keep them safe.

His privileges in prison will depend on his status. Whether he’s on basic , enhanced etc. All prisoners are expected to engage with work or education. They can have money sent in (this is limited to a certain amount they can spend each week) again depending on the establishment and the persons status and behaviour etc. They also have visits but again these are away from the rest of the visits and my experience is VPS don’t have anywhere near the amount of visits as other prisoners. At the moment due to covid visits are not taking place , there are phones in cells now so they can contact people without having to be unlocked (again makes staff lives easier when it comes to trying to lock people back behind doors who don’t want to go back!) there’s no education worship and exercise on the yards are in small groups for a very limited period of time .

I know people think prisoners have an easy life and to a certain extent they do but if it’s that cushy why aren’t we all breaking the law and being sent away if it’s that good ?

Given his age and if he has cancer he may well be in a separate wing and being isolated due to covid 19 . Again this also benefits staff like me who leave and come into contact with our families and children and are worried about infecting loved ones on the outside.

On a separate note I hope you have appropriate support yourself in light of the abuse you have suffered x

www.vice.com/en_uk/article/43kpx9/vulnerable-prisoner-units-uk

Says a little bit. Even on the VP unit, sexual abuse of children is the lowest of the low. Anyone considered at high risk of being attacked can end up on VPU but they're still at risk from each other.

Doesn't say anything about work, education, etc. arrangements.

Also forgot to add just because he’s in a cat a prison doesn’t mean he’s a cat a prisoner. Many of them are category B (all this means is whether they are a risk to national security due to their crimes and should they escape or have to be transferred taken out of the establishment etc . It’s a security level in short) a lot of these prisons also take from the local courts so a cat a prison will often be predominately full of petty thieves and people who have created more minor offences as well as a small number who are a threat to national security an escape risk or deemed dangerous etc

Thank you. @lookingatthepast he was categorised as a category A prisoner. I don't know where he is now, I'm not allowed to know. I know he was initially sent to Belmarsh but he is not there now. That is as much as I'm allowed to know.

I hope he is terrified for every minute of every hour of every day. It's the least he deserves.

I'm doing ok, but from time to time I just wonder. I read somewhere that they get prison issued pants and socks (communal ones) that cheers me up. He would hate that.

Are they able to use the phone as much as they want if there's one in their cell?

They have to buy credit for it as normal and their spends are limited each week so it’s not as though they can use it continuously. They are also only allowed to ring certain numbers from an approved checked list (so they couldn’t call a victim or a witness or a criminal associate for example )

There’s a voicemail system in some where family can call and leave a message and you can also email a prisoner (it’s printed out and given to them their end ) it speeds up communication and also limits drugs getting into prison via the post. Please believe me that everything is done for a reason and there’s a method behind a lot of what sounds like madness and it’s usually rooted firmly in safety and keeping things on an even keel. If you don’t there can be mass disorder and people badly hurt

OP I'm so sorry for what you went through and of course the others who this man harmed too.

I am sure that his life inside will be pretty unpleasant and even if he's kept out of other prisoners' way to stop him being beaten up, from what I understand, it's still pretty dire. I think the best people like this can hope for is not to be attacked and not to have their food tampered with.

My friend's job means she goes inside a prison to provide medical related services. I get the gist from her that prisoners, particularly of this sort, have a very miserable time.

I can understand why you'd want to think this man is having a rough time and I hope you gain some solace from knowing that he's going to be spending every day feeling shit and miserable. Healthcare isn't great so it's possible he won't ever reach the point of parole and won't be in a fit state to offend again even if he does ever see the outside world

If I was a guard in charge I would accidentally leave the door to their cell open so other prisoners could say hello...... oooops silly me, my mistake 👌

From my understanding, the person who abused me was put in a wing away from the other prison population, usually with other paedophiles. From what I hear the guards accidentally leave doors open, and also accidentally let slip what their crimes are.

Life will not be easy for him whilst hes there.

Mind, I still think whatever happens to people like them is still too good for them.

I haven't reported the crime against me but hope he dies a slow, painful, torturous, lonely, guilty death although he will probably have a quick pain free death.

@Ugzbugz I'm so sorry this happened to you. I didn't think I ever would report it. I didn't think I would ever be strong enough. I didn't think I would be believed. I didn't think there would be enough evidence, that they would find him.... so many reasons. And then I got to a point 5 years ago where I though why should he get away with it? He had gotten away with it all this time.

After the trial I asked to be put in touch with the others. We have set up a website for those thinking about reporting to describe the process and what it feels like, plus useful resources.

It's here: warriorwoman.blog/

If I hadn't reported, he wouldn't be in prison now. I still can't believe I did it. After years of thinking I couldn't/wouldn't. It's such a huge decision though and a hugely personal one.

Even if you aren't thinking of reporting there sections on self care and useful resources thar you might find useful.

Hopefully he will not be being given cancer treatment beyond basic care. I struggle with prisoners of this nature being given anything, which will prolong their life when they committed such vile acts.

My mum is a prison officer and has always said child offenders lie about their crimes and if found out most opt to be kept in segregation cells under 23 hr lock.
Most offences that involve children also have media suppression so it’s easy to lie and say you did something else.

@Hunnybears
If I was a guard in charge I would accidentally leave the door to their cell open so other prisoners could say hello...... oooops silly me, my mistake 👌

No you wouldn't.

When you say a job do you mean within the prison? Because most do. The most common is cleaning or within the kitchens. Redbands are trusted prisoners who are allowed in less secure parts of the prison to work e.g. the grounds outside the front gates or the officers mess. They are normally near the end of their sentence. They are known as redbands as they wear a red elastic band on their arms to show they are allowed in less secure areas. Prisoners can also attend full time education e.g. ESOL, GCSEs, vocational training. If they're a vulnerable prisoner there's less to do, though they may be able to clean on their own wing.

I used to work in the prison service about 25 years back.

They are all on on a separate wing , or a nonces wing as the other prisoners call it and have a different regime, at different times . They do work in the workshops but as a separate group on their own and with no prisoners from mixed wings
. The wing also has people on it for other reasons such as owing lots of money to other prisoners for drugs . My husband works in a prison as a civilian instructor and he says he almost never looks up what offence they have committed because they are the easiest and most compliant group to work with .

There was a programme on recently presented by stacey dooley about a US women's prison. It was quite progressive in that they were placed in different sections depending on their behaviour in prison not their crime and could move to a section where they had privileges such as having a pet dog. Even there though a woman who left her baby to die due to being on drugs was treated badly by the other prisoners. She couldn't form a bond with other prisoners as the others did and was ending up in solitary due to getting into fights because of people continuously mentioning what she'd done to her baby. So I'd imagine there'd be even less sympathy towards and worse treatment of child sex offenders