Finding info about neighbours

gingin_2

sh1305 wrote: »

Give the data protection act, are you actually allowed to do this?

Yes. Where I live they have been piloting this

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8546126.stm

One parent contacted the scheme after a neighbour had begun offering sweets to their children. Police confirmed that the individual was a registered sex offender who had been banned from contacting children. He was arrested and remanded in custody for breaching the terms of his release.

DVardysShadow

XxStephxX wrote: »

My son has never been left with this man and never will be, but i think its only fair if i put my mind at rest as both me and his other neighbour have children, im sure all other parents on here would feel the same.

Your son's safety comes from only letting him be alone with people you trust. Obviously, you don't trust your neighbour, so that sorts it. You are going to be no safer if you know he has a conviction. If you discover he has no convictions, are you going to trust your son with him? After all, every convicted qaedo started out with a clean record. I am afraid to say that this Sarah's law thing is a misleading nonsense if you are doing it right in the first place.

jamespir

more paranoia why cant you just leave him alone

kendalls_cave

Gosh! I am a very private person - never got to know my neighbours, etc, but I'm no child abuser
How is going to know make any difference? You won't be leaving your son with him anyhow.

itsallinthemind

OP Somerset starts Sarah's law in April

However it is very specific "Under the scheme, a parent, carer or guardian can apply to the police to find out if someone with unsupervised access to their child is on the sex offenders' register"

This man does NOT have unsupervised access to your child, so you will not be able to put the scheme to use.

The way this scheme is going to be used is to allow freedom of information when a child could be at risk, but not to facilitate witch hunts.

If you have concerns you simply do not let child be in a persons care, if you have concerns past someone seeming different to yourself, only then do you take the matter further.

If you do not let someone pose a risk, they can never be. I think that Sarah's law and public awareness amazing, but I fear that the labelling of single men who can appear reclusive or different is wrong.

Having a possible criminal record or having more than one name does NOT make him a child abuser. A relative of mine lives with another man-he is not gay. He has 2 names-changed by deed poll for good reason but still uses first one on occasion. Very private-not a recluse. Adores children-not a sex offender.

Be vigilant, but do not start a witch hunt

pigpen

He could be a husband escaping a violent wife!! Would you want the world to know where he was in this circumstance?

You won't ever be leaving your son with him so unless you have any evidence he is anything other than what he appears to be you cannot be jumping to conclusions whether they prove to be correct or not in the future.

It is usually the ones you least expect to be a !!!!! that are!!

I have a friend who has changed his name a few times.. because he likes to feel 'new'. He lives with a woman and is quite openly gay.. we all have our little quirky ways... my neighbours think I am the mad cat woman I'm sure lol

kendalls_cave

I replied to this earlier but have thought about it some more. Four years ago I moved area's to escape from my family who had and who continued to abuse me.

I had to change my name legally, so they couldn't find me. As I said I "don't do neighbours" either.

Does all of this make me dodgy too? Yeah he might be hiding something BUT he might also be running away from a difficult situation.

Don't leave your child with him, as you wouldn't with anyone you don't know and you'll be fine.

Mankysteve

DVardysShadow wrote: »

Your son's safety comes from only letting him be alone with people you trust

Well the real danger for the child in term of Pedofiles behaviour is actually someone you trust most likely a family member. There a hole load os reasons he left his area besides Criminal activity.

PasturesNew

Meanwhile, he's on another thread posting: "I'm worried about my neighbour's kid. She never seems to let him out to play .... I think she's probably a loony and locking him up".

There are two sides to every story.

WASHER

I agree with some of the posters on here, I personally wouldn't do anything to find out about him, no-one should leave a child with anyone they don't know well., so its not going to affect you nor your son.

He may be a very private person, hiding from the baliffs, hiding from the ex, or in witness protection, anything.

As long as you are viligant as you should be with anyone you don't know well who is around your son,then I do not see any need to investigate this matter further.

I'm a very private person, I don't do neighbours, I know my neighbours routine off by heart so I can do my gardening on a Monday or a Thursday when she and her husband are on an away day so they don't speak to me through the fence, I hate people gossiping, or trying to find out what my husband and I do for a living, I want to be remain private, does that make me odd? Maybe it does in some circles, but I work with children and have CRB clearance, it doesn't make me an abductor or abuser because I'm private.

The media is to blame for much of this over reaction by parents, it is difficult to have a healthly balance at times, I have been over protective in the past with my children, but few children come to harm with strangers, they are more likely apparently to be abused/harmed by a member of their own family I heard on radio 4 only this week.