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?

Uk campsite

As I said, you should investigate. The police don't decide not to respond to crimes because they are advised security are dealing "in house". That is ridiculous.

Thanks for website suggestions. I have a nice long list that I am itching to get posting on...however am concerned I may get in trouble for it! I'm going to give them one chance to reply to my letter I think and then bite the bullet. I'm in the mood for a good battle :-)

K999: How do think I would go about that? Do you think I can request to see the police records?

I'll probably get shouted at for saying this but frankly the company have had their chance. If you can stand the heat, just go to the media. It's a slow news week, you'll probably get a big splash out of it and embarrass the shit out of the company involved. CPS perhaps has not got enough evidence. Perhaps they got no cooperation from company involved (not unusual when they are in the firing line). Was there any physical evidence (CCTV or photographic evidence on you for example)?

I agree dont name and shame.

Might an option be to either write saying that you are considering bringing civil procedings or to pay a solicitor to write for you.

Threatening them with going to the papers will most likely get a reply that they will sue you for libel if you do.

You will get the most sympathy at the Mail or the Sun btw - suggest the Mail may be better. Editorial News and features - 020 7938 6000 or [email protected]

They can't sue you for libel for stating facts. If they have acknowledged the incident and the police has taken statements and attempted to pursue it to the CPS they obviously believe it has merit. Stick to the facts.

K999 - there is nothing to invetiagte re the police - they have investigated the crime and no further action , on advice from CPS, is being taken.

The police called back the OP on the night , rightly so, after being cancelled by security, police then attended.

The police acted correctly by re contacting the OP to confirm cancellation.

I would send your original letter with a copy of theirs back to them asking for an apology now that this matter is no longer with the police. And then allude to the fact that you are prepared to take it further if they do not respond to you within an allotted time frame.

I am not sure that I would go straight to the press as to be fair to the company (although they don't deserve it!) head office may be unaware of the end of the matter with the police. Try the direct approach first, if they don't respond in the time frame that YOU want then escalate it.

The media -or threat of it is the way to go.

This is the top time for families booking this kind of holiday .I think they need to know that employees of this park are allowed to spy on naked women and children. If no-one has been cautioned /sacked then you can only assume that all employees of this park are suspect.

you could name the town.

nobody would be in trouble for that. but we could work stuff out for ourselves>

Also very odd that the police were told not to bother as it was being dealt with in house. The allegation was of a sexual assualt. that is a matter for the police.; the least they would have done would be ask to speak to you to see if you are happy for it to be dealt with inhouse.

I would name and shame here (cos we are nosey!), on trip advisor and contact newspapers, watchdog etc

What have you got to loose by going public with it - you did nothing wrong as far as I can see, and I cant see how you would be in trouble for going public with what happened.

Did it happen in the UK?

Goodluck!

I feel sick thinking that we could end up here in the summer (just looking at booking a holiday now) and that it could be my teen DD next

I am so on your behalf

Trip Advisor - they always vet postings before they go 'live' . I see no reason why you could not post a review on there. They may even look into it further ..

Just to clarify a few points relating to libel...

Someone suggested telling the press on the grounds that they would be publishing it, apparently thinking that you would then be protected. That is wrong. You could still be sued for libel. You could also be sued for libel if you posted it on a website, even if the website owner vetted your post first. The newspaper or website may also be liable but it wouldn't protect you. In order to sue you for libel they only have to prove that you have made the allegation to one other person.

Similarly naming the town could also lead to libel action if it is possible for people to then clearly identify the company involved. You don't have to name the comparny for it to be libel.

It is true, as someone suggested, that one of the defences in a libel case is that the allegations were true. However, can you prove that your allegations were true? If not you could lose a libel case even though you are telling the truth.

I'm sorry but that is the law.

Morning All!

I have today sent a very short, very polite email resending my original letter and asking for a speedy response now that it is no longer a police matter.

Much as I would like to go wild on the forums I am going to restrain myself for the moment. All I want is for a good response from them and then I am going to move on. If I name and shame and then they sue me it could drag on and I just want it over. I am acutely aware that once you put something on the internet then there is no taking it back afterwards - so I have to be really sure before I go down this route.

I will let you know if, when and what they respond.

Thanks,

Good luck.

Acacia I think you have done the right thing. The allegations that the police were looking into would have made it difficult as a company for them to comment as it could have interfered with a police investigation which would have been detrimental to both you and them. In this way you are now asking them to respond on something that has now been closed and they can surely comment on it. I am sure this is how my company would proceed, as ultimately if you just want an apology from them then this is something that is goodwill although they may still want to brush it under the carpet (sorry) because although the police investigation is now closed they won't want to admit anything. So be prepared, but if it was us we would want to investigate, write a letter or apology and then close the matter due to the possibility of a pr implode. Good luck, I really hope that you don't need to escalate this, and I would think very long and hard about it due to the libel and also the dragging on an event that you probably just want to now try and forget about.

If you do end up going down the trip advisor route, I think I would be vague and non emotional about it and allude to the fact that you don't think the Showers etc are sufficiently private or secure. This is truth unless they have now done something about it. No names, no times, no dates and no specifics but it would give the idea that it wasn't best to take your family there if you didn't want people to potentially spy on them whilst washing.

Do you know whether this employee is still working there?

The way this place has handled it is shocking, they came down firmly on the side of their employee, and no doubt headed off the police as they didn't want them coming on site and the other people holidaying there knowing about it. Keeping him working there, doing the same job no less is also appalling!

Even if the guy has since been sacked doubtful from the sounds of it) I would still want to know the name of the holiday park as their reaction to the incident is extremely shoddy.

UPDATE:

I have received an official reply from their legal department. They say that they have investigated internally and "their team member has been totally exonerated". They do not feel the need to respond to my letter. There will be no disciplinary action against their employee.

Disappointing but not surprising.

However - I not only saw his face and hands under the door - I saw him so clearly that I recognised him - I KNOW he did it.

Have to think now what to do.

This is what I have just sent to them:

Thank you for your letter received today which I found disappointing but not in the least surprising. Your approach was the same on the day it happened: hush the occurrence up and get us to leave your site as quickly and quietly as possible.

I saw your employee?s hands and face under the door. I not only saw him, but I recognised him. I KNOW what I saw. I am a mother of three small children with a full time job. I am not in the habit of fabricating stories ? I simply do not have the time or energy. I have far more important things to do with my life.

All that I wanted you to do on the day was tell me that he had been removed from my vicinity and that I could enjoy the rest of my holiday. You failed. All that I wanted in response to my letter was for you to say ?sorry, we got it wrong on this occasion?. I thought that perhaps you might address staff training issues so that your staff were able to support and assist your customers in an emergency. Again, you failed.

So you are not taking any disciplinary action against your employee? Well, shame on you if and when he does it again.

I have absolutely no expectation that you will respond to this email. It is enough for me to know that you have received my message and that I have done everything possible to prevent it happening again. You have done NOTHING to prevent it happening again (by your own admission).

What a fabulous place for a family holiday. I would recommend it highly.