Is this guy a peado or am I being paranoid?

[purpledaze24]

I take my 3 yo DS to our local play park around 3 mornings a week. Often when we’re there there’s this man there sitting on a bench with his dog, but never with a child, he’s always just with the dog. The play park isn’t enclosed from the wider park so he didn’t stand out that much at first but the last few times I’ve seen him he seems to be taking pictures with his phone of the kids playing. He’s pretty blatant about it, not trying to hide it. He also has an attachment on his phone, which looks like it’s over the camera lens. I’ve never got close enough to properly inspect it but it looks like a small black square over the lens and sticking up at the top of the phone. I’m wondering if this could be a zoom…he looks very normal (not that that means anything I know), early 30s, good-looking, well-dressed. I’ve never seen anyone challenge him - maybe because he’s so blatant about it & the park is often busy & people probably assume he has a child playing who he’s taking pictures of. He definitely doesn’t btw. I’ve seen him leave and arrive before and it’s always just him and the dog. I know that, technically he’s not breaking any laws. Anyone can takes pictures of anyone in a public place but he’s giving me the creeps. I cannot think of any possible reason why he’d so regularly be taking photos of random children other than that he’s a peadophile. There’s also nothing else he could be taking pics of, his dog is by his side. AIBU? What should I do? I don’t feel comfortable challenging him

Did the black square on his camera phone lens look like this? Because this is a nano lens, for taking close up photos of very small things like insects or flowers, not for snooping on kids in a play park like the dude from Rear Window.

In Saudi Arabia, legal regulations and societal norms limit where and when you can take photos. Recording or photographing people without their permission is punishable by law and may result in fines or jail time . It is also considered disrespectful to the local culture and viewed as an invasion of privacy.

Perhaps we should have this in the UK.

He's not in the children's play area.

Plonk yourself on the bench next to him & see what he's doing or start chatting & ask him

We have park rangers in our park too! They even have houses on site (it's not a big park, but owned by City of London)

Legal regulations allow chopping off hands; societal norms treat women as second class citizens. I don't think we should be looking to Saudi Arabia for guidance!

Your argument that others might assume he has kids with him each time and not notice otherwise, but you know for certain that he doesn't and is just sitting there using his phone (which is in no way inappropriate) is the only strange behaviour in your post.

Stop watching one specific stranger out in public on his own and focusing on what you think he might be doing.

Seems like if a man kept looking at you and took a weird interest in how often you were there and what you were doing you'd go mad!

Saudi … reknown for their progressive civil liberties.

And the OP did neither, she opted for peado.

It makes me think of those eejits in South Wales who confused paedophile with paediatrician and targeted a doctor's house.
People should be careful throwing accusations about.

Well you can go to extremes in discussion, or you can look objectively. I prefer the latter.

I’d also prefer strangers not to be able to take my or my children’s’ photo and do with it what they wish. That could be published on the internet on paedophile porn sites, it could be wanking over it in privacy. It could be throwing darts at it. It could be publishing it in a national magazine. Wherever I’d rather stop it at source.

I would report this to the police. I don’t know why anyone in their right mind would think it ok to take photos of other people’s children. And I don’t understand how so many have defended it. Parents aren’t allowed to take photos of nativity plays because other people’s children would be in the shot.

I think convicted sex offenders aren’t allowed to hang around schools, play grounds etc. so if, as PP, said the police wouldn’t be interested, then that’s just another failure

🙄 see my response above.

I’ve reported things like this to 101 and the police did take it seriously and investigate. I’d do that here too

I'd take photos of him, not subtley either. He may get the message. I'd also speak to 101 just to let them know your concerns. It might be entirely innocent but imagine something did happen and you didn't say anything?

He’s a pedo.

Those photos are probably uploaded to the dark web. Call the police.

I think i would report him to the police amd they can check him out

The park warden?! 😆😆😆😆😆

If he's always there at the same time then I'd call 101 and let them know. They could have a pcso do a patrol of the park.

Taking photos of children in public isn't illegal but if he's a paedophile he may be know to the police or have conditions of not hanging round playgrounds.

My niece and her friends (young teens) were videoed regularly by a guy as they left the train returning home from school. My sister reported it to the station staff and the police were notified. They said that it is not illegal to film/take photos of children in public places and they could only act if the guy approached the girls.

Even though there isn't any evidence this man was even taking photos, just chiming in with the guidance on my local police force's website (my bolding for emphasis):

"There is no law preventing people from taking photographs or a video in public. This includes taking photos of other people’s children.

If you are taking photographs or a video from private land, you need to have the land owner’s permission. Taking a photo or video of a person where they can expect privacy, such as inside their home or garden, is likely to cause a breach of privacy laws.

Unless the images or footage are indecent, no one has the right to:

• ask a photographer to stop
• ask for a copy of the photos or footage
• force a photographer to delete the photographs or footage"

A man in a children's park, holding his phone up so it looks like youre taking photos - which is clearly different than holding it to type or scroll, is cause for concern when done repeatedly in a children's play area.

It clearly says that hes in an unenclosed children's play area

No it's not. As someone has pointed out already, that is the American spelling. There is no "accepted alternative". If you are American you are using the correct spelling. If you are British then you are using the incorrect spelling.

Who cares, everyone knows what pedo means

Take it to pedants corner if it offends you so

No

He's in the park which has a kid's play area as part of it.

He's not hanging around a kid's play park