Andrew Gilligan Sunday Times Challenor Green Party

[WaddIelikeapenguin]

"A young politician and transgender activist who is running for deputy leadership of the Green Party was fighting for her political life last night after it emerged that she had used her father as her election agent even though he faced charges of raping and torturing a 10-year-old girl."

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rising-greens-star-aimee-challenor-will-not-quit-over-rapist-father-kngjwc8l5

Got exactly the same response from the BBC

So, which media outlets have and haven't run with this so far?

I've got:

Times - "Rising Greens star Aimee Challenor will not quit over rapist father" article focusing on Greens, mentions DC's involvement in scouts and gymnastics but missed that the house where DC & Aimee live and where the crimes happened, is the registered address of the Greens in Coventry.

Metro
Daily Mail
Sun
Independent
Scottish Daily Record
Local press in Coventry & Birmingham

• all reported on crimes and mention DC fetish for dressing as a little girl / adult baby but not the link to Greens / Aimee. Some did follow up with pictures from the attic where the crimes took place

BBC - nothing
Guardian - nothing (most recent article from the Guardian on the Challenors, this article celebrating Aimee as a politician.

What about the Telegraph and Sky, have they mentioned it at all?

What have I missed?

There is no way what he did to that girl was the first and only time he ever did anything like that.

And by "anything like that" I'm not just talking about the animal abuse, or the predatory moving in with a very vulnerable woman within hours of meeting her, or the narcissistic need to constantly be in the newspapers, or all these groups he's joined or started to be near children.

The photograph at the top of the article is an interesting choice - look at the pamphlet held by the person on the left.

Can't believe I missed that when I first read the article - it really does say it all!

The three years it took to come to court is also odd.

No, it isn't. That's about standard in my experience of sexual offence trials.

And it's also normal for offenders to be bailed. I agree that it's not right, but that's how it is.

Spot on AveABanana

Mrs Challenor was a very vulnerable young woman when she met the paedophile and rapist David Challenor. She had given birth to three children by the age of 23, the last one had sadly died at that time and she was suffering from a deep grief, naturally, after the loss of her baby. They moved in together after two days of meeting and their meeting was celebrated in a piece on the Daily Mirror. The Challenor's had three children together and they all went into care.

I also find it difficult to believe there was only one victim. One has to assume that the police would have made enquiries with the scouts, the gym club etc. So maybe no one else came forward, or maybe the CPS decided that they had enough evidence to prosecute a single case without causing additional trauma to other child witnesses. It's incredibly worrying. I seriously hope the Scouts (and the other children's schemes he was a part of) are reviewing their procedures.

Woman Oh OK. I didn't know that. Seems a long time, I'm sure other serious crimes eg some murders come a go quite quickly through the courts but perhaps those sorts of cases have more clear cut evidence and no doubt a case like this involves a lot of wider investigation. Perhaps there will be more to come. Or perhaps they really haven't identified any other victims.

Exactly Hackmum

Also, was Challenor on bail for 3 years? If the evidence in the attic was so compelling as it seems, why was he not on remand?

You'd be shocked how normal this is. My rapist was even bailed AFTER being found guilty (there was a month or so between the trial and the sentencing, and he was allowed out on bail the whole time. He even got a reduction in his sentence for the period already 'served' as he was tagged while on bail.)

I agree with what others have said on this thread.

Aimee obviously knew her father was charged with serious sexual offences, yet used him as her agent and did not disclose to the party. This shows serious lack of judgement, and the party should at least suspend her while it investigates and determines a course of action.

Aimee may well be the victim of an abusive, dysfunctional household, but is an adult now and their actions should be judged on that basis. Aimee was an adult when she chose to appoint hear father as agent, in full knowledge that he was awaiting trial for rape and torture.

I am very surprised the BBC think this isn’t newsworthy. It reflects a major ethical dilemma.

I think it is totally unacceptable to publicly discuss personal abuse situations (or speculate about such) in relation to individuals who have not chosen to ‘come out’ about them. However, when people take up a public position relating to safeguarding it seems unavoidable.

I doubt any posters would argue that people who have grown up in abusive situations/have been in care should be denied the right to work in public office. Indeed it is not improbable that some would want to go on to campaign for better rights/improved safeguarding etc. This could be empowering and therapeutically productive.

What is concerning here is AC taking up a position where she can influence, being told repeatedly that her position presents safeguarding risks, and dismissing these concerns. Even if she disagreed with the concerns I would expect to see greater levels of empathy and support for those explicitly seeking to ensure positive safeguards. Her position seems to reflect one of empathising with abusers rather than victims.

We do not know if AC has had an abusive past. However, she has transitioned and we know that transitioning can occur as an unconscious strategy to escape the pain of an abusive past. She was also taken in to care for a spell and a convicted paedophile has also had life long easy access to her. It is this, combined with her flippant dismissal of safeguarding concerns raised, that makes me feel as though her background should not be overlooked. I think this is regrettable but necessary.

I have been involved in a number of serious case reviews and in every single one, instances of professionals failing to see obvious red flags due to their unpalatability has been a feature. It is for this reason that I think AC’s position needs to be reviewed.

In relation to her father, We REALLY need to ensure that AGP is recognised, that the GRC process screens for this, that the only people to get a GRC are those with GD, and that sex segregated provision adequately provides for trans people so women and girls do not have to share their provision with male bodied

On how many threads have we pointed out that the dissolution of safeguarding procedures lobbied for by extremist transactivism will allow easier abuser infiltration, regardless of the inner identity (trans or otherwise) of the infiltrating abuser?

I got a strike (subsequently withdrawn but only after a fortnight's furious arguing) for suggesting such a thing.

And here we are.

How can the Green Party not hang its head in shame?

I'm tempted to get "we tried to warn you" tattooed across my forehead at this point, honestly.

As others have pointed out, there are some very perceptive comments under the article.

On how many threads have we pointed out that the dissolution of safeguarding procedures lobbied for by extremist transactivism will allow easier abuser infiltration, regardless of the inner identity (trans or otherwise) of the infiltrating abuser?

THIS.

Vivcky

Yes there are. I have had the most surprising conversation recently with an acquaintance. He brought up the whole issue of self-ID (something I am reluctant to do until i know people really well - scared) and his awareness stemmed from reading the Times. They must be applauded for their willingness to engage with this issue and allow intelligent comments

Baloo, a character from Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, was a nickname used by Challenor’s father in his work as an assistant Scout leader and volunteer with children’s gymnastics.

When I read that my first thought was "So who was Mowgli?"

So, women were saying "abusive men will take advantage of self ID" and accounts such as terfblocker (Aimee) were saying "no they totes won't" - while Aimee knew Aimee's father was a cross dressing child rapist.

Nope, no conflict of interest there

Did you see the response from the BBC someone posted in the other thread...

Apparently it's just not newsworthy enough but we wouldn't understand their complex high level editorial decisions.

Can anyone point me to this? What did they say?

Slight digression, and at risk of being an old fart here so don't shoot me down with that please, but there used to be (ok a long time ago now) something of a convention that people would do other things, like maybe establish a career before going into politics. Then we had the rise of the career politician. There was lots of applause for Mhairi Black, the youngest MP but she has at least been to university and come out with a 1st. AC has clearly had a very dysfunctional childhood, poor school attendance being just one part of it. Has she had any further education since school? Or a job? Leave out all the other stuff but in what way is she qualified to be deputy leader of a political party?

Beyond

Also, women were saying 'abusive men will take advantage of self-ID" and Jess Bradley was saying 'not they won't and shut the fuck up you bigotted transphobe' - while Jess knew that Jess was indecently exposing themself (their penis, although they are a 'woman') in public places.

Nope, no conflict of interest there

Because Aimee is trans, seems to be about the only qualification deemed necessary.

stickystuff

Ah yes, the cyberterrorism... how could we forget?

Indeed, ladybirds.