Identifying a pedophile to his neighbours

[Bipitybopityboop]

If you found out, through work, that a pedophile was going to live on a certain street near you.
Would you anonymously let the neighbourhood know?

Would you want to know?

This could not be traced back to one individual.

[SchrodingersImmigrant]

Yep. Or someone else who gets targeted by mistake.

Like the unfortunate guy who was accused of being Robert Thompson

[StoneofDestiny]

No - what do you hope to achieve. Not all dangerous people are convicted, registered or known to the police.
Don’t play vigilante, it’s dangerous to everybody involved.

[tensmum1964]

Like others have said, leave well alone. I know of an innocent young man with learning difficulties that was beaten up badly because his father was a convicted child molester. The stupidity of some people is the reason we have confidentiality in situations like this. Many years ago a paediatrician was attacked because some idiot confused the word paediatrician and paedophile. Please don't put innocent people at risk.

[ViciousJackdaw]

@SchrodingersImmigrant

Yep. Or someone else who gets targeted by mistake.

Like the unfortunate guy who was accused of being Robert Thompson

There was a case where a paediatrician was targeted too. OP, keep your beak out.

[RoseRedRoseBlue]

Keep out and stop trying to stir trouble. The fact that you need to ask says it all.

[Fuckitfuckit]

If it comes back to you, you're likely to be in legal trouble yourself, just be careful if you do.

Personally, myself. I'd say something. Unsure of what but I would.

I was groomed as a vulnerable 18 year old with a young DD. I had no idea he was a convicted paedophile until the police turned up at his flat for their semi regular check ups.

Sat there with DD, I became aware that this man was infact not just being a friend, putting up curtain poles for me.

It seemed that he was trying to win my trust to get close to my child. Luckily because of my own past I never left him alone with my child, but knowing how sneaky they are, and how paedophiles worm their way into people's lives, I'd absolutely give those around them a heads up so they keep a distance.

[RoseRedRoseBlue]

This comes up time and time again. Why don’t people let the trained, qualified and experienced authorities manage the situation and stop trying to be the hero?

[Bufferingkisses]

Like it or not every has to live somewhere. The fact that your next door neighbour could be anyone is why we safeguard our children. This is part of life as a whole, the good the bad and the ugly.

[ElizabethTudor]

Is he definitely a paedophile and not a paediatrician?

www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/aug/30/childprotection.society

[MrMeSeeks]

Say nothing.
1- you do not want to get in trouble at work/lose your job
2- get into legal trouble
3- be the cause of them being beaten up no matter what they are
4-you may be wrong, an innocent person life could be ruined/innocent person hurt

[timeisnotaline]

I cannot think of a scenario where I could come across this information through work and it’s not a fireable offence for me to share it, whether I was supposed to know it or not or it’s directly related to work or not. And you’d deserve to lose your job.

[Teapotsandtablecloths]

I am privvy to this sort of information in my job and if shared would 1000% lose my job and rightly so. You've said you found this information out via work, but then said it's not your job. So i assume someone who is privvy to this information has told you and now you are deciding whether to act on it. First of all you should report said person for breaching data protection and telling you this.

Secondly, on outing the paedophile? Simple answer is no.

You don't know what you could start. The vigilante mob that would descend on said person would be relentless.

Not to mention you could face legal charges if its found that it was you who spread this information.

[spatchcock]

"1. Confidentiality. Also I can't actually think of any job where this would come up, apart from maybe housing or something? (not relevant but I'm nosy)."

Comes up in my job, a lot - I'm a news reporter. We usually can't publish their names (name suppression to protect the victim/s) but we certainly know who they are, and so do all the registrars, security staff, and the members of the public who attend court.

[me4real]

If you know for sure i.e a criminal conviction.

You could do it anonymously, drop a note through their doors.

[Bloodybridget]

It's almost a certainty that we all - unless we live in a very underpopulated area - have paedophiles living very close to us. I would not spread information to a whole neighborhood about an individual, but if I noticed that he or she seemed to be making friends with a family with children, I might warn the parent/s.

[RoseRedRoseBlue]

@Bloodybridget alternatively, you could warn the Police?

[Quaggars]

Argh.
Completely understand why you'd want to know (I would too as a parent) but if it's part of your job surely you're bound by the Data Protection Act or the equivalent in that field?
YABU,
also too much scope to go wrong, mistaken identities and vigilante action

[Quaggars]

@wheretoyougonow

If you have access to information like this and have to ask advice from strangers on the Internet, you need to find a different job.

Also this

[Bloodybridget]

@RoseRedRoseBlue yes, that's a good point.

[BitOfAFaff]

I would want to know if a pedo was living near me.

[AMillionMilesAway]

@BitOfAFaff

I would want to know if a pedo was living near me.

Genuinely why? Surely you should be just as vigilant either way.
So you know about the convicted person.
What about the one who has not been caught yet?
Or your family and friend circle- who, statistically pose the most risk?

[Rangoon]

Where do you think they should live? Presumably he has served his sentence which would have been a very unpleasant experience given other prisoners' view of him. I imagine there are quite strict parole conditions on him. Yes, some of these people do reoffend but sexual offenders who target adults are, according to a NZ study of 1100 sex offenders, more likely to reoffend and not all child sex offenders do reoffend. But we're not suggesting hunting done rapists or at least I hope not. And really, this is not just about keeping children safe, but rather about people beating up these people or other people living with them such as parents. How certain are you really about your information? You'd be amazed at the number of people who have the same name and are roughly about the right age and in an area. I myself found out that an old flame of mine had killed his wife and daughter or rather a man with exactly the same name had done that and my ex while deeply unsatisfactory in many senses was not a murderer.

[Quaggars]

@SchrodingersImmigrant I remember that
Also where a paedatrician got accused and hounded as thought as it was them as paed must mean paedo or some such utter shit
No, dipshits, paedatrician as in caring for children as a doctor
Seriously, stay well away and out, people can be fucking stupid.

[BitOfAFaff]

@AMillionMilesAway Of course you'd still be as vigilant but I'd still want to know.

Who wouldn't want to know if a perv is living next door to them.

[ThumbWitchesAbroad]

It crossed my mind that the job could be related to where people live, and the OP could personally know that the person mentioned is a paedophile through their own experience - e.g. OP = estate agent, and paedo is someone who abused her.

Just a thought.

Would I want to know? Yes I would.
Where I live there is a supposedly secure mental unit that houses a paedophile child killer. Unbeknownst to the general population, this man was allowed out on day release to wander the local area regularly. A friend of mine used to see him around, without knowing who he was, and stop and chat to him along with her young daughter, who was a similar age to his victim.
You can imagine how she felt when she found out who he was (it was released on a local FB page)