I'm honestly not sure where the best place to post this is, but frankly I just need some space to vent and this seemed the most appropriate space.
For some context, when I was a teenager there was this guy I encountered who started chatting to me asking if I'd draw his dog for him (I did paid commissions at the time). With hindsight, this was clearly his way "in".
He discovered I was in a relationship, and so he decided the sane thing to do would be to hack other girl's Facebooks and use them to get to know me, stalk me, as well as others. Going so far as showing up at my house once he'd managed to word salad my address out of me under the guise of being a fellow female and therefore trustworthy. Manipulating my parents into allowing him past the front door with lies that I was about to off myself.
We went to police the same day it happened and they came back with "Oh well we can't do anything because there's no way for us to prove that it was him using these facebook accounts" - Despite the fact he showed up at my house about an hour after managing to get my address, and despite the fact that my mum had forced him in the station with us.
I then asked around, found out others had dealt with him as well, ranging from stalking, assault, and I'm not 100% if it was rape or just attempted rape - and made a chat to see if maybe if we got everyone to go to the police, they might actually do something.
We did what we could, and eventually we heard through the grapevine that he'd been arrested and possibly had some type of order, maybe even house arrest we weren't sure, but nothing else had come from it really. No prison time or anything as far as we knew.
Until a few days ago.
That chat I'd created as a teen? Resurrected from the depths with this; https://www.sussex.police.uk/news/sussex/news/court-results/brighton-delivery-driver-jailed-for-sexually-assaulting-young-boy/
(Hopefully this is fine to post as it's public information, lmk if it's not though and I'll remove it if poss!)
I can't even put how I'm feeling into words.
On one hand I'm happy there are finally consequences for this man.
But on the other I am absolutely appalled at the concept of "Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO)" for someone like this and that more was not done.
It prevents "him from contacting or being alone with anyone under 16 years old, without permission of a parent or guardian."
That's it.
How in the ever loving fuck is that enough?!!!!
The group chat was more than 6 girls all from the area where he lived, plus then others who were witnesses. How is more than 6 girls all with similar experiences not enough?
How is an SHPO supposed to do anything at all when kids will happily lie to, or about their parents letting them/not letting them do something?
Do police seriously expect people with SHPO's to make it clear to people that they have one as opposed to pretending they're completely clean?
And on top of ALL of that, despite all of us reaching out to the police about this specific person? This young boy was still assaulted years later.
How many other boys and girls have been assaulted in the 10-11 year time frame since we first reported? How many have been too afraid to come forward because of his threats?
How many didn't know shit about his past?
How fucking many?!!
The article is quite a triggering read for me honestly, but I've linked it anyway because I feel it's necessary.
The way they describe his actions, lying and manipulating situations, involving money, those things all hit very close to home with my experiences of him.. and I just...
This could've been stopped.
This didn't need to happen.
I'm relieved, but I'm so so angry.