My neighbour is a convicted paedophile

[Obviouslyneedtonamechange]

I've just found out from another neighbour that the man two doors down, who we chat to regularly and are friendly with, has been convicted of horrific child pornography charges. Like, the worst. It's really thrown me, I have a two year old and a four year old and I want them to be able to play in their garden without worrying about him watching or worse.
We live on a really small street which the name of was reported in the local paper so I am also a bit worried about potential vigilante type actions. I am obviously hoping he moves away (his marriage has collapsed so I'm hoping he financially has to) but no sign of that yet. Incredibly he got a suspended sentence, what a joke. Am I unreasonable to feel like I want to move?! What do I do?

That’s not what you pulled me up on though. You said have I learned nothing from the inciting violence / asylum convictions.

and you know it.

He lost his job a while back but we didn't know the reason. Now we do as the timeline is in the press. Incredibly he got a suspended sentence 😭

Please see both my responses to the other person.

There's hundreds arrested every month in the UK for online offences.

We couldn't build enough prisons if we tried.

Really? She can be vigilant without inviting vigilante action.

Unfortunately, this all constitutes harassment.

This person's life has imploded, leave him to his misery.

Move to where?

Somewhere that 100% guarantees there are no paedophiles in the area?

I think OP means they felt sorry for him because his wife left, they did not know then the reason why she had left. I doubt they took him out knowing he was a paedophile

No comparison as the dogs who kill/maim children are usually shot dead.

a man might get away with 18 months..if he's actually even caught in the first place

OP, I am absolutely with you - next time you see him, tell him to stay away from you and your family, never speak to or approach your children or any local children (and if you like, you can add that he makes you sick). There has been a serious problem in the last few years with men convicted of possessing child sexual abuse material getting non-custodial sentences, as though they aren't a massive risk to children https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/dec/13/eight-in-10-convicted-in-uk-over-child-abuse-images-avoid-prison-nca-says

He should be ostracised, and everyone should know he is a clear threat to children - I would absolutely tell other parents in the street who are unaware. You aren't doing anything "unfair" to him by making sure all children in your immediate sphere are safe; there may well be paedophiles in every street in the UK (as many other posters have asserted), but you can make sure no one ever asks this nice-seeming man to watch their child for an hour while they pop out. Imagine if you didn't know and you let him take your child for an ice cream, or a dog walk, or something similar.

It’s great you know. Just make sure your children have no contact with him. Stop being friendly and blank him.

The reality is that they are absolutely EVERYWHERE. 1 in 6 children are sexually abused. If your children have 6 friends, it’s quite likely that one of them is or will be abused, probably by someone quite close to them, who your child will know too. I have 2 convicted paedophiles just in my immediate family (who we obviously are NC with).

You need to learn to trust your gut and teach your children to trust theirs. No need to ever be polite with anyone who gives you a funny feeling. But you’ve gotten off easy here because you know about this one and you can give him a swerve.

I understand how upset you are, its awful - similar happened at our old house - although we didnt know him as well before. It was a probably an over reaction but if I saw him leaving I'd hold back as I couldn't bear the thought of him looking at DD, thankfully he worked shifts though so it was a rare occurrence.

That said, I don't think there's anything to be gained by approaching him, just avoid and ignore him he'll know what's happened. I did have a discrete word with another neighbor as she often had her grandchildren visit and she took the same approach. As far as Im aware he's still at the same house and everyone avoids him. He's not worth anyone's time.

I don't want him near my kids

Easy to keep your little ones away from him.

seeing them out his window when they play in the garden

Nothing you can do about that or the other possible paedophiles whose windows overlook your garden I'm afraid.

It isn't madness and would be a risk im willing to take.

So you'd swap living near a known paedophile who you can avoid, with possibly living next door to an unknown paedophile whose crimes you know nothing about?

It seems like a step backwards.

Please use the phrase “images of child sexual abuse”, CP implies consent and is disgusting.

Very similar (but it went beyond images of child sexual abuse) happened in my street with a male neighbour I spoke to daily because every time we walked past to go to school, he’d come out to chat. He got a custodial sentence but is back out now. I just don’t speak to him or look at him. If he ever asks me why I don’t speak to him (he won’t because he knows) I will act as though he doesn’t exist.

Would you choose to move into a house where one of the neighbours is a known paedophile?

Then you must have more money than sense

How is that not preferable to moving into a house near an unknown paedophile?

Knowledge is power as they say.

This is from a few years back https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/paedophile-uk-arrest-child-sex-abuse-police-internet-a9396661.html

2020 more than 450 a month being arrested for CSAM.

A few years before that https://news.npcc.police.uk/releases/the-scale-of-child-sexual-abuse-means-we-cannot-solely-prosecute-our-way-out the most senior Police Officer in child protection calling for men arrested for possession of CSAM be dealt with out of court through other interventions due to the sheer scale of the problem (estimated 500, 000 people accessing CSAM online) and that prosecuting possessing CSAM was taking resources away from contact offenders.

That's why you can't send them all to prison and that's why there is no-where you can move to where there isn't likely to be a CSAM viewer in your local streets.

🙄

That’s not true. The law around vigilantism is about the state monopoly on force. Acts which are illegal already are still illegal, of course - but passing on information is not illegal in and of itself and it wouldn’t be in this scenario.

and again, I said nothing about actually passing the information on.

It’s not about waving pitchforks. This man has a view into ops garden where her small children play. We had a convicted paedophile in our road, 3 doors down. His direct neighbour raised 4 children with very strict rules about clothes in the garden/ swimsuits for the paddling pool( behind a tree), because she didn’t want her children to be perved over/ photographed . Neighbours made a point of telling new families, in order that they be aware, not to victimise him. It is safeguarding not vigilantism.
No one told me because I had no kids when we moved in. I was friendly with him and was asked to feed his cats while he was in hospital. I saw some questionable pictures on the wall when I went to find the blind cat, and then asked about him. It was horrific because he had shown an interest in the teenager we had inherited, although I would never have allowed her round there. He was very ill so I didn’t confront him, but I never spoke to him again and he knew why.

Make sure it’s not someone else with the same name before you do or say anything to him.

Does he have children? If so I wouldn’t let your child go to play round there.

Thanks captain obvious.