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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

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Original poster

Have Scouts said anything about Assistant leader 'Baloo' Challenor?

194 replies

Doyenne · 27/08/2018 09:02

Just wondering whether the Scout Association have made any sort of announcement re their assistant leader being charged. They will have been told by the police at the very latest when he was charged so they have had plenty of time to prepare a statement

OP posts:
VickyEadie · 27/08/2018 15:39

I know that opinion formers and politicians and their researchers read this forum.

LOOK AT WHAT IS BEING SAID.

Our safeguarding procedures are not comprehensive and often fail as it is. Yet extremist transactivism wants to dissolve and/or weaken them further. We evidence this here over and over. And yet government and big third sector money (hello Comic Relief, hello Children in Need) continues to be funnelled to these lobby groups even as they issue guidance which in some cases is unlawful.

FUCKING DO SOMETHING.

THIS.

littlbrowndog · 27/08/2018 15:41

👆what Lang said

AngryAttackKittens · 27/08/2018 15:42

Yep. This is a massive scandal in the making. The longer politicians and organizations take to act, the angrier the public will be when it all comes out. And it will.

AngryAttackKittens · 27/08/2018 15:43

(No matter how hard the BBC tries to stop that from happening by pretending it isn't newsworthy.)

IfIWasABirdIdFlyIn2ACeilingFan · 27/08/2018 15:49

I’m actually surprised that the TRAs and their handmaidens haven’t said that the child rapist isn’t trans.

I actually saw a tweet from a trans person last night accusing “txxfs” of trying to link DC to trans people. Hmm

WRT CRB checks, is it only convictions that show or do charges/pending trials show too?

Numbkinnuts · 27/08/2018 16:01

There are procedures in place (Working Together to Safeguard Children - Statutory Guidance ) that if a person who is in a position of trust with children regardless of paid or volunteer work and it is alleged they they have harmed a child organisations using that person should be informed.

If the scouts did not know about his arrest then there are failings with the relevant statutory agencies.

If they did know about the arrest through this process then there would have been meetings to discuss what Safeguarding measures were being put in place. A suspension and a complete removal from their role is usual.

Numbkinnuts · 27/08/2018 16:02

An enhanced DBS can show relevant charges and pending cases if relevant to the subjects current role.

Numbkinnuts · 27/08/2018 16:02

An enhanced DBS can show relevant charges and pending cases if relevant to the subjects current role.

IfIWasABirdIdFlyIn2ACeilingFan · 27/08/2018 16:04

I found this. It’s from July 2016. Not sure if that’s the most up to date publication. It’s long but page 5 is where you need to start for the vetting process and child protection policies.

scouts.org.uk/media/761122/POR_July2016_ALL.pdf

IfIWasABirdIdFlyIn2ACeilingFan · 27/08/2018 16:06

Thanks numbkinnuts it sounds like it would have been relevant to his role in scouting.

Numbkinnuts · 27/08/2018 16:11

Absolutely relevant.

AsAProfessionalFekko · 27/08/2018 16:13

So... If the girl guides allowed for boys who say they are girls to, say go on ca.pa and sleep in the same tent... This guy likes to pretend to be a little girl so... (See where I'm going here?).

And yet people are still defending him, their child and their demands for self certification because no one wild ever get this because they are intending to abuse women or children or have a sexual perversion that makes them a danger, would they?

Nope, never happens.

TimeLady · 27/08/2018 16:17

We don't know when DC stopped being involved with the scouts. It may well have been years before his arrest.

AsAProfessionalFekko · 27/08/2018 16:17

He didn't become a child rapist over night through did he?

littleducks · 27/08/2018 16:21

@TimeLady I'm hoping this was the case- that he was no longer involved by the time SS had concerns or there was the animal abuse convinction. But I do think the scouts should have made a statement even if that was the case to clarify their position.

TimeLady · 27/08/2018 16:29

I'm not defending him. But maybe there was nothing on record that showed up in a CRB check when he was involved with the scouts. The animal cruelty conviction was in 2014 and the police investigation was at the end of 2015.

His Baloo profile upthread is from a website with dates which suggest it was pre-2011; I have no idea when he stopped.

The worrying thing is that if he was involved with scouting in 2010, then this was around the same time as when the attack on the girl took place.

I know NAMALT, but personally, I would be looking for a cub pack that had female leaders.

TimeLady · 27/08/2018 16:32

littleducks

I think we have to remember this is a bank holiday weekend, and tbh, most people will have missed this story, unless they've been following a particular strand of social media.

When they open their inbox at scouting HQ tomorrow morning, I strongly suspect the shit will hit the fan.

littleducks · 27/08/2018 16:35

Yes I am hoping he hasn't been involved for years and so the scouts were blissfully unaware and it will be like you say tomorrow morning.

BunnyRuddington · 27/08/2018 16:36

Thanks for that Alexander.

Original poster
Doyenne · 27/08/2018 16:48

Even if he wasn't involved for years he was giving the impression publicly that he was a scout leader and given his tendency for self publicity (DC's) the scout groups and organisation local to him would have been aware that he was still promoting his scout leader 'credentials'. It would be interesting to see if he still have a valid scout leader warrant card, they lapse after you're not involved anymore (may take up to a year)

OP posts:
Seeingadistance · 27/08/2018 17:01

His connection to Scouting and to children's gymnastics clubs have been mentioned now in the media, but with no dates or timescales provided.

I really think that those organisations need to issue press releases to clarify the extent and timing of his links with them, and I'm surprised that this hasn't already happened.

AnneElliott · 27/08/2018 17:17

Scouts do recheck the DBS now. I only have my appointment for 5 years and after that my DBS, first aid and other paperwork has to be re-done. Not sure if this applies to people who were volunteering before the rules changed though.

newdaylight · 27/08/2018 17:28

I would have assumed proper process would have been for police to inform the LADO who would have informed Scouts that he should not have any contact with children in light of the allegations. I can't imagine police carrying out an investigation could have been kept unaware of his roles with children

UpstartCrow · 27/08/2018 17:29

I think I've been making a lot of assumptions about background checks that just aren't based on what actually happens.
Surely if someone has to have a background check, if anything changes that might mean they would fail if they reapplied, they should alert the organisation and return their ID?

gendercritter · 27/08/2018 17:39

His connection to Scouting and to children's gymnastics clubs have been mentioned now in the media, but with no dates or timescales provided.

That just about sums up the whole story. A man has sadistically tortured a young child in the UK and there has been almost jo mention of it. How did 11 days of the trial go past without more discussion of the case? How did this man's entire community seemingly miss what he was being investigated for? People gossip - surely it didn't slip under the radar in the way it seems to? A music teacher from my primary school was imprisoned for child rape and everyone knew about it as soon as things started with the police. These things don't stay quiet.

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