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khafka
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Group: Forum Members
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+x+xAnd here is your update! As suspected - The social work department still haven't finished their paperwork so my sentence has been deferred again until next month. Yay, more waiting! Hi I was on bail for 2 years, one year until I could plead guilty then 1 year waiting to be sentenced. As ever I will hope you well but I was told 30 months supervisory order recommendation order, supported by a psychology report - ended up with 4 years . Though it is felt this was because of the media / society interest in other sex offences that was headlining in the media. As I said I hope you well but to be blunt, I stand by my initial comments to your posting. That being that you admit and realise there are victims in your offence and possibly a low level sex offenders course may be worthwhile to help your understanding of that. It does not matter there was no contact or they where far away the images supported the abuse of them. Sorry for my opinion but I do look at events from a 'consequence of action' view. You can not do anything about your past and you will have to keep focused and believe in yourself through all the issues you will have. Remember your family and friends are victims of the consequences of your offence as well. I could suggest from my experience is that the only support you can give them is: whatever your sentence, to learn from your past and ensure you live the rest of life as an ex-offender. Hi JASB, thanks for chiming in again. I imagine, like me, you'd no previous convictions or trouble with the police/law. I understand a custodial sentence is a potential on the horizon and I will deal with that if and when it comes. In my area/town there have actually been a reasonable amount of similar cases as mine. Most of which had a much bigger haul of images as well as previous convictions for the same crime and none of them spent time in prison. Given the police report even stated there is history or pattern with my circumstance and all images were "created" on the same day and confirmed they came down on a non-IIOC related torrent, never viewed and in an inaccessible portion of the HDD I feel puts me in a reasonable good stead for this showing I didn't actively seek this stuff out. But I guess you never know what happens until the gavel comes down! I'm looking to remain positive. Basically all the damage that could be done from this is now done. Job gone, friends gone, name plastered in the media, keyboard warriors on social media foaming at the mouth wanting me dragged through the streets to the gallows. When you lose everything it really changes your perspective on things, at least to me anyway. I'll accept whatever punishment is handed down and work with that. I was a wreck about 2 months ago but now I'm almost ambivalent about it. Worrying about this can't and won't change anything, what I can change is how I learn, grow and move on from this. Worrying is just paying interest on something you haven't purchased yet.
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JASB
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Group: Awaiting Activation
Posts: 1.2K,
Visits: 1.9K
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+xAnd here is your update! As suspected - The social work department still haven't finished their paperwork so my sentence has been deferred again until next month. Yay, more waiting! Hi I was on bail for 2 years, one year until I could plead guilty then 1 year waiting to be sentenced. As ever I will hope you well but I was told 30 months supervisory order recommendation order, supported by a psychology report - ended up with 4 years . Though it is felt this was because of the media / society interest in other sex offences that was headlining in the media. As I said I hope you well but to be blunt, I stand by my initial comments to your posting. That being that you admit and realise there are victims in your offence and possibly a low level sex offenders course may be worthwhile to help your understanding of that. It does not matter there was no contact or they where far away the images supported the abuse of them. Sorry for my opinion but I do look at events from a 'consequence of action' view. You can not do anything about your past and you will have to keep focused and believe in yourself through all the issues you will have. Remember your family and friends are victims of the consequences of your offence as well. I could suggest from my experience is that the only support you can give them is: whatever your sentence, to learn from your past and ensure you live the rest of life as an ex-offender.
Society suggests I must let go of all my expectations but I disagree, as whilst I have a voice, I have hope.
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope is for tomorrow else what is left if you remove a mans hope.
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This forum supports these words, thank you Unlock and your contributors.
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khafka
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Group: Forum Members
Posts: 430,
Visits: 22K
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And here is your update!
As suspected - The social work department still haven't finished their paperwork so my sentence has been deferred again until next month. Yay, more waiting!
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khafka
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Group: Forum Members
Posts: 430,
Visits: 22K
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Hi peeps. Not sure if people are still following this but today is the big day. The date of my sentencing which is in a couple of hours. I had a social work interview/discussion last week and I strongly believe my sentencing will be getting deferred again as the report won't be ready in time which could be another 3-4 weeks which would be around a year from my initial arrest. The social worker did advise there are 4 possible outcomes: - Caution - basically a slap on the wrist. Don't do it again - 99.9999999% unlikely. I've accepted that.
- *Community Payback Order - I'm sure most know about this
- *Moved to a Rehab Program - Moving Forward, Making changes program - This could include a community payback order on top of it
- *Custodial Sentence - My solicitor and social workers both think given the low risk and nature that this is super unlikely. Social Work also mentioned in their report they wouldn't be recommending this but of course you never know what the judge will decide!
* - These could, and almost certainly will put me on the Sex Offenders Register also
Anyway. I'm away to go get ready and psyche myself up for what I'm sure will be a pretty daunting and heavy day.
I'll be sure to post an update for anyone that is curious.
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JASB
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Group: Awaiting Activation
Posts: 1.2K,
Visits: 1.9K
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+x+x+xHi peeps, Not sure if you're still interested in my journey but a slight update. I got a letter through the post yesterday from PVG Scotland, looks like a disclosure thing saying that they are considering putting me on some anti-children list thing and I have to give reasons why I feel I shouldn't be put on it. Anyone done this before/had success? What kind of things are they looking for? I've been asked to head to my local police station today for a questionnaire thing which the officer spoke briefly about when he visited earlier in the week. Looking in the forum I suspect its the "dreaded" ARMS one? Which to my short investigation online appears to be quite a stressful and intimate series of questions relating to my err... "private" habits, shall we say... I've got nothing to hide and I don't consider myself to have any weird fetishes or anything this just feels a bit Orwellian/Thought Police to me which I'm not super fond of. Hi khafka I think you're probably referring to the Barring List. If you've been given the opportunity to give reasons why you shouldn't be put on it then it's definitely worth doing so. Have a look at our page on representations, reviews and appeals - this gives advice on the sort of things to include in any letter. I'm not sure what work you've been doing but, if you've not been working in any type of regulated activity then you need to make this clear as well as stating that you have no intention of working in this field in the future. Feel free to give the Unlock helpline a call if you need any help with this. Debs Hi Debs! Thanks for the reply. That looks exactly what it is in relation to. I do have some testimonies already prepped on a recommendation from my solicitor. Including a close friend, a family member who is a respected police officer (not sure if this one would be allowed as it might be a conflict of interest?), my therapist of around 5 years that I've been seeing for mental health reasons, and one of the main folk in a local charity which I've done countless work with for the last 6-7 years or so. Hopefully they help a little bit! All of my previous jobs have never really had anything I'd say were intrinsically linked to working with children aside from when I worked in retail and obviously children would come in with their parents etc. but nothing in the teaching field or anything like that and to be honest, its not really a career path I've ever considered or had any interest in. Hi I do wish you luck but from my experience; and I think I understand the type of images, the fact you haven't worked with children before will not stop you being added to the list because of the content of the images. There is an excellent article / video on the BBC ( https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/stories-50808616/online-child-sexual-abuse-don-t-do-what-i-did) with similarities of not searching but looking and the lack of consideration. All supportive evidence is helpful but I pleaded guilty on advice, was recommended for a non-custodial sentence by Probation (and verbally by the Police), but due to other people's offences and Government reports about other cases that did not happen. Any mitigation evidence was not put forward, and in many discussions with the solicitor afterwards was none productive/ questions unanswered, just simply because I pleaded guilty. I do hope I am wrong whatever the outcome please focus on yourself and on the fact that you haven't worked in that environment in the past so you will not have to declare it in future job applications. Good luck and have self-belief in yourself.
Society suggests I must let go of all my expectations but I disagree, as whilst I have a voice, I have hope.
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope is for tomorrow else what is left if you remove a mans hope.
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This forum supports these words, thank you Unlock and your contributors.
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Debbie Sadler
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Group: Forum Members
Posts: 400,
Visits: 6.1K
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+x+x+xHi peeps, Not sure if you're still interested in my journey but a slight update. I got a letter through the post yesterday from PVG Scotland, looks like a disclosure thing saying that they are considering putting me on some anti-children list thing and I have to give reasons why I feel I shouldn't be put on it. Anyone done this before/had success? What kind of things are they looking for? I've been asked to head to my local police station today for a questionnaire thing which the officer spoke briefly about when he visited earlier in the week. Looking in the forum I suspect its the "dreaded" ARMS one? Which to my short investigation online appears to be quite a stressful and intimate series of questions relating to my err... "private" habits, shall we say... I've got nothing to hide and I don't consider myself to have any weird fetishes or anything this just feels a bit Orwellian/Thought Police to me which I'm not super fond of. Hi khafka I think you're probably referring to the Barring List. If you've been given the opportunity to give reasons why you shouldn't be put on it then it's definitely worth doing so. Have a look at our page on representations, reviews and appeals - this gives advice on the sort of things to include in any letter. I'm not sure what work you've been doing but, if you've not been working in any type of regulated activity then you need to make this clear as well as stating that you have no intention of working in this field in the future. Feel free to give the Unlock helpline a call if you need any help with this. Debs Hi Debs! Thanks for the reply. That looks exactly what it is in relation to. I do have some testimonies already prepped on a recommendation from my solicitor. Including a close friend, a family member who is a respected police officer (not sure if this one would be allowed as it might be a conflict of interest?), my therapist of around 5 years that I've been seeing for mental health reasons, and one of the main folk in a local charity which I've done countless work with for the last 6-7 years or so. Hopefully they help a little bit! All of my previous jobs have never really had anything I'd say were intrinsically linked to working with children aside from when I worked in retail and obviously children would come in with their parents etc. but nothing in the teaching field or anything like that and to be honest, its not really a career path I've ever considered or had any interest in. Sounds like you've already pulled a lot of evidence together. The fact that you've not worked with kids and have no interest in working with them should demonstrate that there's no reason for you to be added to any barred list. Let me know if you need any further help before you send your representation off. Debs
Need Unlocks advice? Visit our self-help information site or contact our helpline
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khafka
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Group: Forum Members
Posts: 430,
Visits: 22K
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+x+xHi peeps, Not sure if you're still interested in my journey but a slight update. I got a letter through the post yesterday from PVG Scotland, looks like a disclosure thing saying that they are considering putting me on some anti-children list thing and I have to give reasons why I feel I shouldn't be put on it. Anyone done this before/had success? What kind of things are they looking for? I've been asked to head to my local police station today for a questionnaire thing which the officer spoke briefly about when he visited earlier in the week. Looking in the forum I suspect its the "dreaded" ARMS one? Which to my short investigation online appears to be quite a stressful and intimate series of questions relating to my err... "private" habits, shall we say... I've got nothing to hide and I don't consider myself to have any weird fetishes or anything this just feels a bit Orwellian/Thought Police to me which I'm not super fond of. Hi khafka I think you're probably referring to the Barring List. If you've been given the opportunity to give reasons why you shouldn't be put on it then it's definitely worth doing so. Have a look at our page on representations, reviews and appeals - this gives advice on the sort of things to include in any letter. I'm not sure what work you've been doing but, if you've not been working in any type of regulated activity then you need to make this clear as well as stating that you have no intention of working in this field in the future. Feel free to give the Unlock helpline a call if you need any help with this. Debs Hi Debs! Thanks for the reply. That looks exactly what it is in relation to. I do have some testimonies already prepped on a recommendation from my solicitor. Including a close friend, a family member who is a respected police officer (not sure if this one would be allowed as it might be a conflict of interest?), my therapist of around 5 years that I've been seeing for mental health reasons, and one of the main folk in a local charity which I've done countless work with for the last 6-7 years or so. Hopefully they help a little bit! All of my previous jobs have never really had anything I'd say were intrinsically linked to working with children aside from when I worked in retail and obviously children would come in with their parents etc. but nothing in the teaching field or anything like that and to be honest, its not really a career path I've ever considered or had any interest in.
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Debbie Sadler
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Group: Forum Members
Posts: 400,
Visits: 6.1K
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+xHi peeps, Not sure if you're still interested in my journey but a slight update. I got a letter through the post yesterday from PVG Scotland, looks like a disclosure thing saying that they are considering putting me on some anti-children list thing and I have to give reasons why I feel I shouldn't be put on it. Anyone done this before/had success? What kind of things are they looking for? I've been asked to head to my local police station today for a questionnaire thing which the officer spoke briefly about when he visited earlier in the week. Looking in the forum I suspect its the "dreaded" ARMS one? Which to my short investigation online appears to be quite a stressful and intimate series of questions relating to my err... "private" habits, shall we say... I've got nothing to hide and I don't consider myself to have any weird fetishes or anything this just feels a bit Orwellian/Thought Police to me which I'm not super fond of. Hi khafka I think you're probably referring to the Barring List. If you've been given the opportunity to give reasons why you shouldn't be put on it then it's definitely worth doing so. Have a look at our page on representations, reviews and appeals - this gives advice on the sort of things to include in any letter. I'm not sure what work you've been doing but, if you've not been working in any type of regulated activity then you need to make this clear as well as stating that you have no intention of working in this field in the future. Feel free to give the Unlock helpline a call if you need any help with this. Debs
Need Unlocks advice? Visit our self-help information site or contact our helpline
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khafka
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Group: Forum Members
Posts: 430,
Visits: 22K
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+x+xHi everyone, Long listener, first time caller. I'm not really sure how to introduce myself but lets start with the offence, I guess. I'm currently awaiting sentencing for possession of indecent images and the whole thing has just thrown my life upside down and really does show you who your true friends are and the horrible conditioning of the great British public (or Scottish public, to be more apt). I have no idea the outcome if I'm looking at a prison sentence. If it helps; I was found to have around 270 images (6 of which were videos totaling around 15 minutes in combined length) around 1/3 of which were Category A. In the report these images were only "created" on my HDD on one day and were in an inaccessible portion of my HDD. The police (CPS?) confirmed they hadn't been accessed and appeared to have come down via a torrent I was downloading at the time. My solicitor can't even believe it even got to court. This eventually hit a local paper last week and my life has now obviously shot to pieces with people putting me in the same bracket as Jimmy Savile et al. - This was furthered when a local Facebook vigilante group managed to somehow get a personal picture of me (no idea how, I don't have social media) and plastered me up for the world to see - When my friends saw it they let me see the mess too. I did plead guilty to possession off the recommendation from my solicitor and on that diet hearing was the day the papers found out and of course made me out to be some kind of wild beast roaming the streets looking to snatch children like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang or something. This has obviously led to me being suspended from work for their own investigation to see about the future of my employment - However, even if I did keep my job there is no way in hell I'd feel comfortable walking back into the building given some of the threats I've received from some of my supposed "work-friends". I've written that job off to be honest - My worry is moving forward in terms of looking for a new job and having to disclose this. To be honest, I'm in a state. I haven't left my house in about a week for fear of a lynch mob chasing me down the street (bit extreme thought, but I'm sure some people on here understand). I'm just scared of the whole thing and what's going to happen. I have no previous convictions, the police have stated there is no pattern to show I am seeking all these images out. I'm awaiting a social worker getting in touch to go over my circumstances to put forward their views in terms of sentencing (I'm not sure if this is common or not). I just want this whole debacle over and to move on with my life but I know this'll never happen now. My life is never going to be the same. My sentencing is in January so this is going to be a long month I feel. I'm happy to answer any questions anyone may have about this - To a degree, I don't want to give too much information away that might identify me. Thanks for listening. Hi, I had a very similar experience to yourself. I had been sent 13 " insolicited" images by a third party. Like yourself, the police determined that I had neither requested, downloaded, searched or otherwise attempted to access the images. Of the 13 images 12 were "inaccesible" (deleted) the other one was " accesible" but had not been viewed. On the advice of my solicitor I pleaded guilty because, as she explained, the very fact that the images were found on my lap top, was a crime. I was sentenced to 200 hours unpaid work, 2 years on probation and made subject to a 5 year SHPO with 5 years on the SOR. I was arrested in January 2017. I have now discovered that the fact that the images were unsolicited and had been deleted should have been offered in my defence or at least in mitigation. My solicitor failed to advise me of this. I gave employed the services of another solicitor (expert in such cases) to see if I have any redress. Life will never be quite the same again but you 2ill survive. Best if luck. "On the advice of my solicitor I pleaded guilty because, as she explained, the very fact that the images were found on my lap top, was a crime." That's the same advice I was given which is why I pled guilty, in hindsight I'm wondering if things would've been different had I not done that. Seems crazy though in my circumstance and yours, they've stated there is no pattern or anything and it was a one and done type deal. In the same thought process, if I were to accidentally download a Katie Perry album that was incorrectly labeled as something else, am I now a Katie Perry fan? What if I downloaded normal, heterosexual pornography and it turned out to be gay pornography. Am I now a homosexual? That's how it feels.
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khafka
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Group: Forum Members
Posts: 430,
Visits: 22K
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Hi peeps,
Not sure if you're still interested in my journey but a slight update.
I got a letter through the post yesterday from PVG Scotland, looks like a disclosure thing saying that they are considering putting me on some anti-children list thing and I have to give reasons why I feel I shouldn't be put on it. Anyone done this before/had success? What kind of things are they looking for?
I've been asked to head to my local police station today for a questionnaire thing which the officer spoke briefly about when he visited earlier in the week. Looking in the forum I suspect its the "dreaded" ARMS one? Which to my short investigation online appears to be quite a stressful and intimate series of questions relating to my err... "private" habits, shall we say...
I've got nothing to hide and I don't consider myself to have any weird fetishes or anything this just feels a bit Orwellian/Thought Police to me which I'm not super fond of.
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