In a quandry re gossip regarding a potential sex offender

[Betti]

A new boy has started in my daughter's class at school and today I was told that his father is on the sex offenders register. Now this could be just cruel gossip but if it's not, how would I feel if he re-offended.
Is there anyway to confirm this gossip? If it is true I wouldn't be happy with my daughter going round for tea but it's not fair to treat the family any differently if it is just cruel gossip. thanks

'Gossip'

even if it were true, which it probably isn;t, it doesn;t mean he's a paedophile or anything

The register contains the details of all those convicted of a crime in England and Wales under the 2003 Sexual Offences Act.

which means that while serious sex offneders are listed, of course, you could also be put on it as a 16 yr old boy who slept with your 15 yr old girlfriend.

so, not really in the same league.

how did you come by this gossip??

Oh dear, tricky one. Because people quite rightly hate and fear sex offenders, particularly those who offend against children, malicious people know there is no better way to ruin someone's life than by making false accusations.
Please bear in mind, though, that people can be put on the sex offenders' register for a variety of offences which do not actually make them a danger to other people/children. If this man is on the register it could be for something like kerb-crawling and/or dogging - but of course he could be completely innocent of any kind of sex offence.
You could try googling his name and the area the family lived in previously, I suppose: it is possible that there would be local newspaper reports of a man of that name being convicted. However if his surname is Smith or something, that still isn;t necessarily going to prove that it was the same man.
How well do you know the head teacher of the school? Is he/she sensible, or inclined to panic, favouritism, gossip or over-reaction? Because if the head is a sensible individual it might not hurt to phone up and say, look, there is this rumour about Mr X, you ought to know the rumour - and leave it to the head to deal with (ie if there is a problem, the head can deal with it, if the rumour is malicious and unfounded, perhaps the head could address that before the boy's life is made a misery.)

and, if what I have just read on bbc site is true you can get put on it for just having a caution.

For all you know there could be 5 other parents in your dd's class who are on the register. Your neighbour could be - or your local postman, etc etc

What about at the beach in the summer - the person you sit next to could be.

I would be very sure of your sources information before you take any action - you could ruin someones reputation when they are totally innocent.

All that said - of course if it was my dd I would be worried to.

agree with SGB, why not speak to the headteacher.
not everyone will be thinking the same way you do,and it could get very unpleasant for the family if this is untrue and people believe it.

Thanks everyone for your responses. I will speak confidentially to the head and let her deal with it (if indeed it needs to be dealt with).