Offence (sexual) committed against me at UK well known holiday park...what can I do?

[Acacia123]

Whilst staying at a UK well known 'family' holiday park in August I had an offence committed against me by a male member of staff (a minor sexual offence). This was taken seriously by the police but I have heard today that the CPS have decided not enough evidence to prosecute. Disappointing but not unexpected.

The offence itself was distressing enough but the actions of the park / site / management were so awful that I am still to this day enraged. It resulted in us cutting our holiday short and departing very hastily - children extremely distressed and me shaken - mainly due to the ineffectual 'emergency security' and hopeless management. We had decided that we would plough on with our holiday and not let one horrible man spoil everything for us but in the end we simply could not stay as they left him working 50m from our accommodation watching us (in the toilet/shower block that we had no choice but to use). Horrific.

I wrote to the management asking for an explanation of their actions (a v long 4 page letter detailing each and every point that upset me - there were numerous things) but the only response I had was to say that they could not respond as it was a police matter.

It is now no longer a police matter and I want to do something. I am sick to my stomach and enranged. I want an apology and explanation from this company. I also want to name and shame. People need to know - this is heavily advertised as a family holiday destination. They failed us so badly in their duty of care. All they were interested in was to get us off site as quickly as possible so we could not make any noise about it. In hindsight I wish that I had gone banging on accomodation doors telling the other guests what had happened but at that stage I really believed they would deal with it appropriately, professionally, responsibly...how little did I know.

Can I get into trouble by going on the internet and naming?

Is there any other course of action I could take?

I dont know what you could do, i would speak to CAB maybe and see what they advise, so rry this happened to you :(

Agree that you should get advice from CAB or similar. If it's no longer a criminal case, can it now be a civil case? The burden of proof would be much lower and they would get bad publicity through that too.

They had no plans to suspend or remove him from duty on the day - I dont know if he is still working there but the management were not overly fussed.

The offence was, I guess, minor in comparison to other things however I was left shaking with shock and sick to my stomach. I caught the cretin watching me shower under a gap in the door. I shouted, he ran and slammed the door. It was very early in the morning and nobody was around. When I heard the door slam (or lock as I interpreted at the time) I thought he was coming back for me.

Phoned (1) police and (2) security. The first thing that security did was call off the police (without telling me), say that they would be dealing with it 'in house' but then say sorry there was nothing they could do. They were short of cleaners and they needed him to stay. Four hours later, he is still there, women and children (alone) still using toilets and showers unaware.

I know it is not huge in the grand scheme of things but it was a horrible thing to happen and I thought the management / security would help me and they did not (which is as bad as what happened). They could have suspended him pending investigation...I could list everything awful that they said and did on that morning but dont want to bore you with the details.

I'm still fuming months later.

What do you think? Any ideas. I'd love to plaster it all of the internet - I'm sure the timing would be great with everyone thinking of planning their hols at the moment.

That is dreadful - I hope to hell he is not still in that job. Totally crap response from the venue as well, I'd be considering private legal action - is that a possibility?

And its not minor really - it is a horrible violation of your right to privacy. Poor you.

horrid thing to happen and totally inept management making it many times worse for you.

sorry i don't know what to suggest, possibly a request for written apology and compensation for your ruined holiday and early departure. surely the police notes would help with this.

Have you spoken to a solicitor about this, now it's no longer a police matter? I agree that CAB might be a good starting point if you haven't already set the ball rolling with a solicitor.

I think you've been treated very poorly by the company.

The company have handled it appallingly. I hope I never go on one of their holidays

How were they able to call of the police?? Since when do private businesses get to decide they will "deal with it in house"?

I'd definitely resubmit your letter to the holiday company asking that they address your points now the police investigation is closed.

It may also be worthwhile trying to complain to the police, if they failed to respond when you reported a potential sexual offence.

Agree that no company is above the letter of the law. Have the police told you they are not persuing charges, or have you heard that through the company? All sounds very dodgy to me. I thought it was believed that many sex offenders start off as voyeurs, then progress to exposure and worse. I would call the police authority and point out that they are leaving women in a position where they are vunerable to the same thing happening or worse and that, given recent publicity for police forces not acting on information that could have prevented more serious crimes that you would expect them to charge him with voyeurism. I would also emphasise the fact that children use the facilities and that they have a duty to ensure that they are protected.

OP says that the CPS have decided not enough evidence to make it worth bringing a case, which suggests that the police have got as far as putting a case together and submitting to the CPS - so complaining to the police (who wanted to proceed) not likely to achieve anything.

Talk to a solicitor about a possible civil action, but I would definitely name and shame.

Why don't you PM us all the name and location so that we know not to go there?

I would be wary about any naming and shaming till you get professional legal advice......the holiday company/resort if they hear about it might come after you for defamation or liable or slander.

Legally could the OP link to the letter that was sent to her (with all her identifying details left out) as they sent the letter?

As a mother I would like to know which company it was so I don't unknowingly visit! I'm shocked that any company would try to brush that under the carpet.

As Bakingaddict says, naming and shaming risks a libel suit even if it is in a PM. Linking to the letter sent by the company would not get round this. You have made the allegations in this thread. The sole purpose of linking to the letter would be to identify the company involved. It would therefore still potentially be libel.

You may get more from the company now the police are no longer involved. However, they may not be willing to tell you what, if any, action has been taken concerning the employee involved as this could be a breach of Data Protection and could even lead to the employee taking action against them for libel.

Having said all of that, you have my sympathy. No-one should have to go through such an experience.

You should consider writing to the company threatening to contact the newspapers about your experience. I personally would not worry about the libellous nature of the complaint as you would not be publishing anything, and frankly if it is true it is not libellous. The person involved would have to be the one sueing you because you complained to his employer:--- private prosecution, mega bucks needed, would probably lose anyway as the balance of probability would be on your side!

I am not saying you should really contact the newspapers, but the threat may be enough for the company not to reemploy this man. I would imagine the majority of these holiday workers are seasonal employees, so they would just not renew any contract rather than sack him. You probably wouldnt hear much except denial from the company, but they would quietly get rid of the creep so noone else suffers like you did - how bloody terrifying!

Dear All

Thanks for all of your replies. Feel a lot better having just put it all in words (even if in very condensed form - there is so much more that I could have added). I've been bottling it all up since August as it was completely out of my hands - I feel like I just want to vent now and this was a good start!

I'm going to resend my original very detailed letter to the company and give them 10 days for a proper reply. I might allude to the fact that I may contact the newspapers in my covering letter.

The only thing I want from them is for them to say "we were wrong and we apologise". If I dont get that I'm not sure if I can hold myself back from hitting the forums.

It has had a long-lasting effect...when we go camping I am no longer happy letting the kids go to the loo block on their own and we have infact starting trying to sell the caravan as it has just lost its appeal.

I'll update you if I get a reply and THANK YOU!

Oh and I should add for kittensmakemesqueee:

What happened was that after I phoned the police, the police then phoned security to say they were on their way....security told them not to come. We were sat waiting and waiting thinking the police would be here soon and then the security guard came and said they had told police no need to come as they would deal in-house.

Police then phoned 30mins later to say we have been advised no need to attend are you ok with this - we said no bloomin way, WE called you because WE needed you. Security are doing NOTHING. And then police came.

The police have taken the whole thing seriously and I am very grateful. We have had to give statements several times (at holiday region and then later at police station local to home) and kept us informed re: CPS. However they said today that CPS are not taking it further.

HTH

You should drop a line to Watch Dog or some other consumer programs.
I'm sure they'd hate to be splashed all over the tv too.

This doesn't sound right. The police have a duty to respond despite security saying otherwise. And I have never known the police to call in advance of them on their way to investigate an alleged crime?? You should investigate this....

Otherwise you could have a situation where a woman is being assaulted in a nightclub. She calls the police. The police call the nightclub. They say " don't bother, our security is dealing with it"......?????

Tripadvisor.

K999: I'm pretty certain that is how/what happened. The police confirmed it more or less when they phoned.