Will he go to prison?

[UnGoogled76]

I recognise this is a bit of a "how long is a piece of string" question, but I can't really find anything online that addresses this specific issue, so I was hoping for anecdotal information.

My exh was violent and we split, family court involvement, social workers, etc.

My teen DD disclosed possible memories of her dad abusing her.

He didn't admit to this, but has admitted to authorities that he abused his younger sister when he was an older teen and she was about 11. He described his grooming process in detail and what he did to her. He believes she consented to this abuse.

Fuck knows why he admitted to this - he says he's found god since and has been forgiven, so thinks the authorities should forgive him too?

There is a current police investigation. This all impacts family court, as well, and as we are still in the midst of it, I don't know exactly how it will play out.

Will he end up in prison? His admissions were to social workers and in a full s47 report. It's not just heresay or baseless accusations he can recant with the police.

I don't know what to expect, and I'd like to have a rough idea for the DC's sake. The younger one doesn't know about this at all (just the DV) and I need to think about how I will talk about these possible consequences in am age appropriate way.

I’m sorry I don’t know anything about this but am bumping the thread in case someone more knowledgeable is about.

Have this moved to Legal OP.

Thanks, will do.

Hey, OP, we're going to move this one over to legal for you now. We hope you get the advice and support that you are after over there.

Thanks.

Who did your teen disclose the memories of abuse to?

A social worker - I wasn't in the room and it's the first time she'd ever said anything to anyone.

Without details it is impossible to be sure but, if he is charged with the historic offence, the least serious charge would be sexual assault of a child under 13. Given that he admits grooming her, it is at least a category 3A offence. Under the sentencing guidelines that would be a custodial sentence, but it may be suspended. If it is a higher category (e.g. touching of naked genitals or breasts) he would almost certainly go to prison.

He admitted to forcing her to performing fellatio on him, so I suppose that qualifies as higher category.

Thank you for this info.

That is potentially much worse. How old was he at the time?

Prison is 99% likely here, historic offence or not.

How old was he?

He was 16&17.

@AllMyPrettyOnes that is a good point, I just presumed he was an adult at the time.

Sorry - forgot how young she was. His age is not really relevant. The offence is rape of a child under 13. If he is convicted, he is going to prison. It sounds like it is either category 3A where the starting point is 10 years, or 2A where the starting point is 13 years. The sentence will be reduced if he pleads guilty - the earlier he does so, the greater the reduction.

This sounds horrible OP. Has his sister acknowledged his abuse of her? It's just crossing my mind if a confession alone would secure a conviction if there were no witnesses/ other evidence and the victim did not want to confirm the abuse?

I don't have all the details, really. I assume that if there is a police investigation she will be involved in some way.

It's all very, very grim.

I thought of another question - how long do these police investigations usually take?

They can take a while. Apparently the courts system is backed up as well, due to covid.

Yes - family court is the same.

I agree with what @prh47bridge has said. I'm a little puzzled as to given the circumstances this has not started as a joint police and social services joint S47 investigation as the guidelines would require this.

The admission to a social worker is unlikely to be valid in a criminal prosecution as clearly he was suspected of an offence and he hasn't been interviewed under caution as he should have been .

Sadly this could take some time but if convicted he will be looking at a substantial custodial sentence.

Thanks for this.

I don't really understand the why's and how's unfortunately, but I appreciate the thoughts shared on what little information I am privy to.

I will keep ticking along with the guidance I receive from the social worker attached to the case.