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For people with criminal records
For people with criminal records

Tag: Sexual offences -

Why can’t our past mistakes be left in the past? The ongoing impact of a criminal record

For many people who receive a conviction, the fact that it impacts on so many areas of their life can come as a huge shock. Sammy has faced discrimination from employers and insurers and believes society and government should be doing more to help people move on from their past mistakes.

 

 

Last year I received a conviction for ‘making indecent images of children’. Having gone through the process of going to court, I had very little understanding of the resulting impact the conviction would have on my life.

I was dismissed from my job as a company director, neighbours that I’d always thought of as friends ostracised me and, my wife and I separated.

I’ve learnt to deal with the humiliation and embarrassment of having to declare what I’ve done to family and old friends. However, the real difficulty I’ve found is that it’s virtually impossible for me to find work. I’ve never been unemployed but since my conviction I can’t even seem to get myself an interview let alone a job offer.

The majority of employers and agencies ask applicants to disclose any unspent convictions and although I understand that it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to work with children, my conviction is not relevant to the work I once did.

One national recruitment agency told me that they would not accept any job application from me because of the sexual nature of my conviction. Others have said it would be difficult to place me. I suspect that of the agencies I’ve disclosed to, many have taken the decision not to share my CV with their clients.

I’ve also realised how easy it is for companies to carry out internet searches on my name which means they come across all the details of my case. I’ve started to think that these companies will then conveniently bin my application form. The problem is, I can’t ask them if they’re aware of my conviction just in case I draw their attention to it – a vicious circle.

I was recently offered a post in a retirement village run by a charity. I wasn’t asked about my conviction at the interview but once I’d been offered the role I disclosed my conviction on the very first day of work. Sadly, the Chief Executive decided that I was a reputational risk and my contract was terminated.

I’m so disappointed to find that even when my sentence is completed I’ll still face a life-time of punishment by society and I can see very little prospect of obtaining any kind of job in the field that I’ve previously worked in.

For me this means that I can’t contribute to the family finances which have dramatically increased due to the need for me to have alternative accommodation. I can’t pay towards the upkeep of my children and I’ll be unable to help them out when they go to university or want a car or help to buy a house. I’m unable to pay my taxes and once my savings have run out, I will become a burden on society.

In addition to this, I’ve recently had to renew my car insurance but because of my conviction many insurers increased my premium and one insurer refused completely to give me a quote. I can’t make out how my risk as a driver would increase due to a completely unrelated offence.

I don’t diminish in anyway the severity of my offence or other sexual offences but society seems to have gotten itself into a state of righteous indignation about anything sexual. Of course I accept that offenders need to be punished. But there has to be an end date for that punishment. A record may need to be kept forever by the police in case there is any re-offending in the future. But how much of this should be held confidentially and how much should be available for public scrutiny. I might have an opinion on this, but I’m just a lay-man, with a conflict of interest.

I consider myself a normal, law-abiding citizen the same as any other citizen. I got caught up in something I shouldn’t have but it was for a very short period of time. It was out-of-character and I took my own steps to remove myself from that behaviour long before the police knocked on my door.

If there’s any chance of change, then government needs to look into the practices of organisations who impose less advantageous terms on people with a criminal record, even when their offence has nothing to do with the service/product they’re looking for. We’ve paid the price for our mistakes, can’t we now just be left to move on.

By Sammy (name changed to protect identity)

 

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My new life began to grow in a garden – starting again with a criminal record

Following a conviction for a sexual offence, Duncan thought his life was over. However with the support of his family and friends and by throwing himself into a new career he’s been able to seek help for the problems which led to his offending. He’s been amazed that despite knowing about his convictions many of his customers have been able to look beyond this and given him a second chance.

Two years ago I received a conviction for possession of extreme adult pornography. My life would have been ruined if it wasn’t for the support I had from my family and friends.

Within three days of my arrest, a night in the cells and a gut wrenching appearance in court, I was called into a meeting with my employer and ‘persuaded’ to resign. I immediately lost my 35 year career and knew that there was no way of ever getting back into it.

Six months later I stood in the court ready to be sentenced. Fortunately, I was only given a 12 month supervision order and the Sheriff (the Scottish equivalent of a judge) told me that “I needed help not punishment”.

I took responsibility for what I’d viewed online (nothing had been saved onto my laptop) and knew that I had to try and make amends for my stupid actions and deal with the issues that got me into this situation in the first place.

I went off to see my GP, received some medication and immediately stopped drinking alcohol (I’ve not touched a drop for 2 years now). However, I knew that I needed counselling to help me deal with my life long issues with pornography. I found out that counselling is very expensive and that I needed an income not just to pay for it but also to keep my mind and body active. So, with the qualifications I’d received over the years, a small business grant from the job centre and some specialist insurance for people with convictions (thanks to Unlock for help with this), I set up my own gardening business.

I knew it was going to be challenging to get customers. My case had been covered in the media, particularly online with my details added to the usual homemade sex offenders’ databases. Although my case had been twisted beyond all recognition, a search on google of my name really didn’t look good. Living in a small community I thought it would be impossible to get work so I used my second name for my business and started to advertise locally. I was still living at the same address so it wouldn’t have taken long for somebody to work out my name.

I was amazed at the response, my customer book was full by the summer and I had to turn people away. What was surprising was that a few customers knew me and knew about my conviction but still employed me – they were willing to give me a second chance.

I was able to book myself in for counselling sessions and I’m starting to move forward. The naming and shaming is still online and still irritates me but day to day it’s not a big deal.

What’s more important is that every day I have the words of my daughter ringing in my ears

It’s not what you’ve done in the past Dad that defines you but what you do from now on”.

By Duncan (name changed to protect identity)

 

Useful links

  1. Comment – Let us know your thoughts on this post by commenting below
  2. Information – We have practical self-help information on sexual offences and self-employment
  3. Discuss this issue – There are some interesting discussions related to sexual offences on our online forum.

Sacked again! – Why can’t employers see beyond my past and just give me a chance to prove I’m a different person

Starting a new job is always a stressful time, certainly until your probationary period is up. But imagine how much worse it is to be constantly looking over your shoulder, worried about people finding out about your criminal record (even if you have disclosed it to your HR department). Todd knows just how that feels. 

The day begun like every other day. After breakfast and a shower I had a pretty good 30 minute commute to work and was at my desk with plenty of time to spare.

The day was fairly uneventful until just after lunch when one of my managers tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to finish off what I was doing as he needed to have a quick word with me. I knew immediately that something was wrong – I could smell it in the air almost.

I finished what I was doing and followed my manager into the small ‘boardroom’ at the back of the building. As I walked in I could see another two senior managers sitting at the desk and I was asked to sit down. They explained to me that they’d just received my criminal record check and as a result of the information disclosed on it, they were going to have to terminate my contact. I tried to explain that I’d disclosed to the HR department at the interview and they didn’t seem to see my conviction as being a problem but my explanation fell on deaf ears. The managers weren’t interested in what I was saying, they’d already made up their minds. I was a problem they didn’t want to have to deal with.

I was asked to hand over my name badge and told that I should go and collect all my personal belongings. My manager came with me and stood over me whilst I gathered my things together and he then pretty much marched me out of the building. I could see my colleagues starting at me wondering what on earth was going on.

Over the next few days a couple of the guys from work sent me text messages and one rang to find out what had happened and make sure that I was OK. I tried explaining that I had to leave due to some personal problems but as I wasn’t able to give more details, I’m not sure whether the guy believed me or not. It was good that he’d taken the time to ring me though.

As the days pass, I start to reflect on what’s happened and reality hits. In the 5 months that I’d been with the company I’d worked so hard to prove myself. I’d always arrived early and I’d stay late when I needed to and I fitted in well with my colleagues. But my managers didn’t judge me on my work or attendance, just on my background. You see I’m a person with a conviction for a sexual offence and this employer (like others before) just can’t see beyond this.

Explaining the circumstances surrounding my conviction just makes it sound as though I’m making excuses and I really don’t want to do that. I don’t want sympathy. I know what I did was wrong, I’ve faced up to my offences and now just want to live an ordinary, quiet life.

As the weeks go by, the people that initially expressed their concern stop contacting me. I know the sort of gossip that spreads round the workplace and although I’m disappointed in my colleagues I do understand. I try to tell myself that life goes on but I’m hurting so much inside. Thoughts of self-harming surface and I start to think that I’d be better off dead. I’m not sure that I’d be brave enough to take my own life and I know that I’m just reacting to a situation. I’ve been through it before and I know that I’ll come out the other end.

So today I’ve been back to the jobcentre looking for a new job and hoping that my next employer is able to see beyond something that happened a long time ago and shouldn’t totally define who I am.

By Todd (name changed to protect identity)

 

A comment from Unlock

Getting a job with any type of conviction is difficult but can be even more so if you were convicted of a sexual offence. Employers often worry that employing somebody with a sexual offence will be brand damaging together with the effect on the workforce if they were to find out.

As part of our Fair Access to Employment project we believe that as well as changes in government policy, employers should develop more proactive and positive business practices when dealing with the recruitment of people with a criminal record irrespective of the type of offence.

 

Useful links

  1. Comment – Let us know your thoughts n this post by commenting below
  2. Information – We have practical self-help information on disclosing criminal records to employers
  3. Discuss this issue – There are some interesting discussions related to disclosing your criminal record on our online forum

Travel tips if you’re on the sex offenders register

Whether you’re looking to travel abroad for a holiday or business, having any type of conviction could potentially cause you some problems. However these may be escalated if you’re under the sexual offence notification requirements. Here Alan offers some useful tips in dealing with the more common issues you may face.

 

I’ve been subject to notification requirements for the past five years and during that time I’ve travelled extensively around the world, between 12-15 times a year. Although my experiences will be different to yours, I really hope that what I share will help you to understand a little more about the processes you’re likely to go through.

I’d like to dispel some of the myths and stop you from getting too many surprises whilst you travel.

No 1 – Informing the police of your intention to travel

Before you visit the police station, print off a summary of all the information you’ll need to provide on the travel form (in the correct order). The desk staff will then be able to complete the form very quickly – they’ll only need to copy your data into their form. Give your summary a bold heading such as ‘travel notification’ to avoid having to say anything out loud – really handy if there are other people at the front desk and you want to be discreet.

Make sure you take some ID with you.

Ask the desk staff for a photocopy of the registration form once it’s been filled in. I’ve never had a problem but it’s always good to have evidence that you’ve followed the process correctly. If there are any discrepancies on the form, check with your dedicated PPU officer – the front desk staff at the police station aren’t always aware of the latest processes.

In the section which is marked ‘optional’ always provide further information. Although you’re not legally obliged to, it always raises suspicion if you don’t.

No 2 – Travelling out of the country

Scanning your passport at check-in and/or the boarding gate doesn’t display any information to staff about your conviction.

When you’re travelling within the EU, the SIS information sharing system will usually place a marker against your passport. This hasn’t caused me any problems, however I’ve noticed some changes over the last 3-4 months and I now find that Immigration Officers in EU countries want to gather more information about my visit than they previously did. The officers are discreet but it’s still obvious that they’re asking you more questions than other people.

If you’re travelling with a group who aren’t aware of your situation, let them go through the passport check first. People behind you will see that you’re being asked more questions and this may raise suspicion.

When travelling outside of the EU, information isn’t usually shared with the country you’re visiting. An exception of this would be if your PPU officer issues an Interpol ‘Green Notice’. This may be done if they feel you’re travelling to commit an offence abroad. Depending on the country you’re visiting, you may be denied entry. You may want to check with your PPU officer whether they’ve any intention of doing this so that you can decide whether to continue the visit or not.

No 3 – Arriving back into the UK

eGates will always reject you and point you to a manned desk. This isn’t too much of a problem as people are asked to go to a desk for a variety of reasons.

If you’re travelling with somebody else and you both go to a manned desk, always let the other person go first. After your passport is scanned, an alert will appear on the UKBA officer’s screen and the officer will ask where you’ve travelled from etc. Although the questioning is discreet, the desk won’t accept other people behind you for a couple of minutes (I imagine this is the time it takes for the system to update your entry) so might raise suspicion.

No 4 – Visas

Countries which require visas (or visa waivers) are unlikely to be aware of the details of your conviction. Whether you choose to declare it or not is down to you and I’m not going to offer an opinion on this either way.

If you do declare, it’s unlikely you’ll be issued a visa within a reasonable time frame. Many countries will choose to deny a visa application completely depending on the severity of your conviction and/or the amount of time which has passed since you received it. I’ve now applied twice for a US visa and been refused both times.

I hope you’ve found my information useful and it doesn’t put you off travelling. Being aware of what will/may happen should help you to mentally prepare equip yourself.

Happy holidays.

By Alan (name changed to protect identity)

 

Useful links

  1. Comment – Let us know your thoughts n this post by commenting below
  2. Information – We have practical self-help information on travelling abroad and sex offence notification requirements
  3. Discuss this issue – There are some interesting discussions related to sexual offences and travel on our online forum.

Thanks to the police I’m able to pick my grandson up from school – Getting my SOPO discharged

It’s fair to say that the UK has some of the toughest restrictions on people convicted of sexual offences. Conditions included in SOPOs can be very restrictive and can have a huge impact on an individual’s ability to move on. However as Colin explains, his local police force have taken a more sensible approach and by assisting low risk individuals to discharge their orders they are able to concentrate their resources on those deemed to be a high risk. 

In 2010 I was convicted of a number of sexual offences and received a 3 year community order and an indefinite SOPO. With everything that was going on in court, I didn’t give too much thought to the term ‘indefinite’ and it was only later that I realised the significance of this.

I suspect that many people will think that I was lucky not to go to prison and without a doubt I’m glad that I was able to serve my sentence in the community. Like anybody who is placed on the SOR, I had to notify the police of my personal circumstances every year. If I went abroad I had to notify the police and when I went on holiday with my daughter and her family I had to tell the police that I was going to be in the same place as my grandchildren. In addition to this, the police paid visits to our house without warning.

My SOPO meant that I couldn’t be alone with any children under any circumstances except for ‘incidental contact’.

Towards the end of 2013 I started to look forward to being ‘off the register’. However, I was totally floored when during one of their visits, the police told me that my indefinite SOPO meant that generally my situation would not change.

The detective sergeant in overall charge of my case contacted me some months later to tell me that my local police force were reviewing the SOPOs of some low risk individuals and were looking at ways that they may be able to assist in getting ‘indefinite’ SOPOs discharged. He told me he’d be back in touch when he had any further information.

I never expected to hear from him again but, true to his word, several months later he asked to see me so that he could interview me about my SOPO. I can’t say that I’ve ever looked forward to meeting a policeman but this was more like a friendly chat, and at the end he asked me to sign a witness statement that he’d written as we talked. One of the key points he made was that my computer had been regularly examined by the police and found to be free of any inappropriate material.

I was extremely anxious about having to go back to court but the detective sergeant reassured me that, whilst the presiding judge could ask that I attend, this had only happened once since the police had been involved in the ‘system’.

Within a couple of weeks I received through the post an ‘Application to Discharge a SOPO’ document which outlined my case, my criminal record, details of the SOPO, a statement from the detective and my own statement. An accompanying letter stated that the police had requested that the application be considered administratively. I wasn’t required to go to court.

Three weeks later I received a letter telling me that my SOPO had been discharged.

The discharge of my SOPO has been the final piece of my previous life. Last week, Sophie, one of my grandchildren was too ill to go to nursery and while my wife stayed at home to take care of her, now SOPO free, I was able to collect her twin brother Toby from nursery. As I relaxed in front of the television that night my phone buzzed with a text message from my daughter. It said:

Thank you for today. Toby loved you picking him up. When I dropped him off at nursery this morning he announced to everyone with a huge smile “My grandad is picking me up in his orange car today” xxx”

I’m delighted that such a simple thing has bought such joy to both of us.

By Colin (name changed to protect identity)

 

A comment from Unlock

It is common problem for individuals with convictions for sexual offences to be given SOPOs which exceed their sentence/disposal or time on the register. The proactive nature of the police in this case is to be welcomed but is still quite rare to see police forces actively helping individuals discharge a SOPO, but there is nothing stopping you from doing this yourself and, in the case of indefinite SOPOs, it is certainly worth doing.

Useful links

Life after receiving a conviction for a sexual offence

We’ve previously published stories which have demonstrated some of the positive ways in which people have moved on after receiving a conviction for a sexual offence, in particular ‘Functioning on a daily basis with a sexual offences order’ and ‘For better or worse – my relationship with a sex offender’. Greg’s story shows a very different experience.

 

I was convicted of possessing a small number (not that numbers are important) of indecent images of children in 2016, following a search of my flat in 2014. The 22 months in between were indescribable. When my case eventually reached court, I was relieved that I wasn’t given a custodial sentence but my life had pretty much ended anyway. You can’t be accused of such a crime, much less convicted, without it haunting you for the rest of your life.

At a snap I lost my job, my home, the majority of my friends, access to children in my family, any self-respect or self-esteem that I might have had and any respect that anyone had ever had for me.

I had 15 years experience of working with young people in paid and voluntary roles (the pictures relating to my conviction had nothing to do with any young person I worked with) without any allegations or inappropriate behaviour, because no such behaviour took place. I was passionate about working hard and doing the best job I could do.

Obviously that line of work – virtually all I had ever done – is closed to me forever now. I have so little experience in any other work that with the conviction, the lack of recent employment history and severe depression, anxiety and insomnia, I can’t see how I will ever work again.

Because I don’t work I have no permanent home, I stay in spare rooms with relatives. I don’t socialise – well maybe once every six months, but all that happens is that after a few drinks my situation comes up and my friends tell me to get over it and get a job.

I know 100% that I will never get involved in a relationship for the rest of my life because I have no intention of putting anyone through the process of finding out about me and I’m not about to volunteer myself for the subsequent constant rejection.

I had two main ambitions in life, which were to write a novel (or several), and to be more involved in politics, even though I had been active for most of my life in one way or another. Obviously, politics is another closed door for me now and if I wrote a novel and sent it to publishers even on the off-chance they accepted it, they would do background checks and refuse, and if that didn’t happen someone who knew me when all of this began would ring some newspaper or other and it would be hell.

So there is nothing left. I struggle to wake up, I carry out the basic things a human needs to do to exist and I drink and go to bed. This is all apart from the myriad appointments I have with probation, the job centre, mental health services, substance abuse etc.

I know there are positive stories on theRecord about living with a sexual offence and some people cope really well. I just have to say that there is another side to this too and when those pictures were found on my computer, I ceased to exist in almost every way.

The victims are of course the children in any kind of child abuse imagery – it can destroy their lives before they’ve even had a chance to live. So I post not for sympathy – I know none will be forthcoming anyway. I was 34 when all this began and have been passing time waiting to disappear ever since, knowing that I am no longer a part of society and never will be again.

By Greg (name changed to protect identity)

 

Useful links

  • Comment – Let us know your thoughts on this post by commenting below
  • Information – We have practical self-help information on sexual offences
  • Personal stories – You can read more stories about this, under the tag sexual offences
  • Discuss this issue – There are some interesting discussions related to disclosure on our online forum.

Why do Ofsted take so long in approving waivers for those who have been disqualified by association?

I’d like to tell you about my disqualification from the primary school that I’ve worked in for the past fifteen years.

In August last year, my 21 year old son was convicted of a sexual offence – arranging to meet a 13 year old girl and sending her explicit photographs. He received a suspended sentence, was put on the Sex Offender Register and told that he had to attend some courses relevant to his offence.

He wasn’t living with us when the offence took place but moved back home just before the court case started.

My family and I were devastated when my son received his conviction. We’re a decent family and have never been in any bother with the police before but the case was all over the local and national newspapers. It was, and still is, the most horrific experience I have ever been through.

As soon as we knew the result of the court case, I approached the Head of my school and explained the situation to her. She was really understanding and told me that the school would support me through this difficult time. It was at this meeting that I learnt about the need to obtain a waiver if I wanted to continue teaching and I immediately applied to Ofsted for one.

I’d always had a very good working relationship with both parents and staff at the school. As well as my teaching role I also managed a breakfast and after school club so I got to know the parents really well. The school told me that whilst I was waiting for my waiver to be approved, I could work from home. I helped with the school accounts, website management and anything else that was easy to do away from the school. This worked well for about three weeks and then the blow came. I was told that Ofsted were not happy about this arrangement and I was asked to return anything that belonged to the school and also told that I was not allowed on school premises. I was totally distraught. This felt like the final nail in my coffin.

The only good thing to come out of this has been that approximately four weeks after his conviction, my son started a new job. A family friend who runs his own business took him on. He knew all about my son’s conviction but was willing to look past it. My son’s doing really well at work and is trying hard to rebuild his life.

I, on the other hand, am still waiting for the results of my waiver. I had a horrific meeting with two women from Ofsted which took place in my own home. They grilled me about my son’s conviction and I had to tell them everything that happened – it was hell. They also asked about safeguarding at school, giving me details of different scenarios and asking me what I would do (it was as if it was my fault that my son’s offence had taken place). They said that they didn’t think I was aware of how serious the situation was because I hadn’t let my Head know as soon as the offence had taken place. As far as I knew, I had nothing to say at that time – my son might not have been found guilty.

We’re now six months on and I still haven’t heard from Ofsted. The Head of my school hasn’t been in touch – I don’t receive emails from her and don’t get invited to anything concerning staff that goes on outside of the school. I’m just totally being blanked. My union who have been representing me really don’t seem to be much use. They’ve told me that they haven’t been through anything like this before and they don’t know what to do. I even sent my union representative the links to Unlock’s website on Disqualification by Association to provide him with more information.

I regularly read the Unlock website and forum – it’s been a great comfort in some dark times. I really don’t think that people realise what impact a conviction has on a person’s family and how much it can affect their day to day life. As much as I loved having some time with my family without having to worry about money when things were very new and raw, I now feel as if I am being alienated. I rarely go out, especially on my own, I feel like I have the conviction and not my son.

I’m on the verge of getting a solicitor to help me as the worry and stress this has caused me and my family is really detrimental. I’m dreading the phone ringing telling me that I need to meet with Ofsted for a decision about my waiver. I really don’t think that I can handle it right now.

If Ofsted need me to have a waiver, then the very least they can do is to deal with the matter quickly or at least keep in contact so that I know what timescales I’m going to be working to.

By Cheryl (name changed to protect identity)

 

Editors note

We’ve since heard from Cheryl that Ofsted refused her waiver. However she is in the process of appealing their decision and we will keep you updated on her story.

Useful links

Just because an employer doesn’t ask about criminal convictions don’t assume they won’t find out – especially if you’re under MAPPA

sex-offences-actI’d like to bring to everyone’s attention the issues you may encounter if you’re not entirely clear about the types of restrictions or conditions that exist on your licence or the input that other organisations may have which you might not have been made aware of. This is my story.

I recently started a new job eight months after I was released from prison. I know from reading posts on the Unlock forum that it’s difficult to get a job with a criminal record and, if you have a conviction for a sexual offence, like I do, then it’s even more so. I thought I’d done well to find a company that didn’t ask about my criminal record so I didn’t disclose it.

The job was going well until for some reason, my boss decided to Google me. I’m not sure what led him to do so, perhaps it was something he did with every new member of staff or maybe he’d been tipped off about my conviction. Needless to say, the newspaper report he read didn’t present me in the best light and he decided to do some further digging about me.

He immediately chose to ring the local police station and was put in touch with my supervising officer. Without speaking to me first, my supervising officer told him the details of my conviction and the fact that I’d spent time in prison. The first I knew of this conversation was when my boss called me into his office and told me:

I know everything about you. The police have told me what you did and where you’ve been’

I was immediately suspended whilst my boss considered what he would do with me.

The next time I met my probation officer, she told me that she’d been contacted by the police and that they were concerned that I’d breached my registration requirements. She told me that the police would arrange to visit me to discuss the matter further.

As soon as I got home I started to look through the details of my notification requirements. I checked my Sexual Harm Prevention Order and also my licence and I couldn’t see anything that set out the need to disclose my conviction to an employer it they didn’t ask me about it. I was confident that I’d done as much research as I could and I believed that the police had unlawfully disclosed my conviction to an employer. I was ready to have a reasoned argument about it.

I always worry about any police visit but I was fairly confident that the situation would be sorted out once I’d had a chat with the officer concerned. I figured that the police had the same duty to abide by my licence/SHPO conditions as I did.

My confidence left me very soon after the police officer arrived. She started to explain that her decision to disclose details of my conviction were nothing to do with the SOR, SHPO or my licence conditions it was as a result of being supervised by MAPPA. I’d heard of MAPPA whilst I was in prison but only in the context of people with violent offences – that wasn’t me.

However, she told me that all registered sex offenders are subject to MAPPA arrangements – unfortunately that did apply to me. The MAPPA arrangement apparently means that the police have a duty to consider whether it’s necessary to disclose information about an individual to a third party in order to protect the public and safeguard children. She explained that having heard about the type of work I was doing, she believed that the public may be at some risk. Hence her decision to disclose.

She told me that normally she would have given me the opportunity to disclose the conviction myself but, as my boss was on the telephone and very concerned about the risk I posed, this had not been possible.

So it seemed that in this case, the police hadn’t really done anything wrong. Yes they probably should have given me the chance to disclose my conviction myself but in this case the outcome would probably have been the same. My boss had already found out about my conviction and was desperate to find more out about me. The police officer told me that it wouldn’t always be necessary for her to disclose to a third party, it would very much depend on the job. However, if I find another job that doesn’t ask about my past and I don’t disclose, I’m worried about how this will be viewed by the police and probation. The last thing I want is to end up back in prison.

I’ve not heard from my boss yet about what he’s going to do. However, whatever happens, I’ve decided the best thing for me to do is to work on my disclosure so that I’ll feel more comfortable and confident about disclosing my conviction in the future. Knowing where I stand will no doubt stand me in good stead for whatever lies ahead.

By Wayne (name changed to protect identity)

 

Useful links

The ongoing impact of my husband’s offence – being disqualified by association

Disqualification-by-Association-2When I was 39 weeks pregnant, I was told by my employer (a school) that, as a result of my husband’s criminal record, I was ‘disqualified by association‘ and would be suspended from my job as a teacher until such time as I was granted a waiver which would enable me to continue working. Although I was given forms to complete, I wasn’t given any other information by my local authority or Ofsted. No one seemed to know how to deal with the matter, or how long the process would take.

At my next antenatal appointment my midwife noticed that my blood glucose levels had spiked which I imagine was as a result of the stress I was under. The prospect of losing my job and quite possibly my house meant that I felt unable to look after my baby and in this fight or flight mode, I was rejecting my unborn baby.

As a result of my husband’s conviction four years previously, I suffered from post traumatic stress symptoms and paid for private counselling to help me to understand that I was not responsible for what happened and that I was not to blame. As soon as I was disqualified, I immediately took on the blame and all those years of work in therapy were redundant.

The PTSD symptoms I suffered were mainly related to the invasion of my house by the police – I suffered terrible flash backs. The result of my disqualification was to bring all those symptoms back after 4 years, at the most vulnerable time in my life, when I was due to give birth. The disqualification process was like another police investigation for which I was the focus and the invasion of my privacy felt exactly the same as when my husband’s original offence had taken place. I decided that the only option was to start counselling again.

The investigation by Ofsted took weeks and for a lot of the time I heard nothing. Then, whilst on the maternity ward and in the early stages of labour, I was contacted three times on the telephone by Ofsted. They left no message and when I called them back in a blind panic, nobody could give me any information and they didn’t seem to know who had been trying to contact me. The birth of my child was overshadowed by waiting for someone from Ofsted to call me back to let me know if I had a chance of keeping my job and home.

The stress, PTSD and the secrecy surrounding the investigation caused me difficulties in bonding with my new born daughter. I was extremely distressed and the focus of the distress was this investigation. I went to the doctors and was prescribed medication. I felt unable to discuss the reason for my distress with the midwives or health visitors as I felt the fact I was being investigated as to whether I was a danger to children would mean that social services would get involved and also investigate me.

Finally, I was given some information from Ofsted about how the investigation would play out. I was told I needed to have a face to face meeting with an Ofsted Inspector. At five days old, one of my daughters first visitors was an Ofsted Inspector who sat in my home and went through such personal and traumatic details with me to make sure I was safe to be around children.

Having this traumatic event dragged up after 4 years had a massive impact on my marriage. It broke down and we separated. Again, having an impact on my daughter in the first year of her life. Luckily my husband and I believed that our marriage was worth fighting for and went for counselling with Relate.

Ofsted sent me a number of emails to my hotmail account which contained some very sensitive information. They asked me to give them specific details of my husbands offence and I was really worried about the security taking into account the method of contact. They also sent me a letter which apparently had details of his offence contained within it which got lost in the post. Obviously this was a real concern to me especially due to the nature of his offence.

It didn’t matter who I spoke to at Ofsted, nobody at any level seemed to know what was going on or could give me any information. Due to the massive trauma this caused to me and my family and countless others, I feel there needs to be very clear guidance and information for everybody involved. Knowing what was going to happen to me and some idea of time frames would have at least alleviated some of the stress.

I understand that what my husband did was wrong but we have both paid the price for his offence. He was fully investigated by the police and they deemed him not to be a danger to society. We spent a lot of time, effort and money rebuilding our lives to the point where we felt able to have a baby only for this to happen to us.

The thing that is most upsetting is that I did not actually have to go through any of this as I was not one of the teachers covered by this legislation so………. It was simply a lack of clarity in the guidelines which caused this to happen to my family at such a vulnerable time. The whole process has had a huge effect on all areas of mine and my families life. I understand that this legislation is supposed to protect children but it has actually caused harm to my own child at a most critical time of her life and development. Nobody spotted this at the beginning and at no stage has anybody apologised for putting me and my family through this.

By Louisa (name changed to protect identity)

 

 

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Food for thought at the food bank – An old sexual offence getting in the way of collecting food

box-of-foodI’ve just been released from prison having completed two years of a four year sentence. The offence I was convicted of happened when I was 14 years old. I’m now 31.

During the past 17 years I’ve never been in any trouble with the police. I’m married to a wonderful lady, we have a son and I’ve worked hard to provide for both of them. However, due to my conviction being for a sexual offence, I’m on the sex offenders register for life and can’t apply to come off it for 15 years.

Like many women who find themselves alone when their husband/partner goes to prison, my wife struggled to cope both emotionally and financially whilst I was away. My son developed anger issues and was constantly getting into trouble at school. You wouldn’t believe how guilty I felt. I knew I’d done wrong but my wife and son weren’t around when my offence happened yet they were also being punished for it.

I couldn’t wait for my release date, to be back home with the family and to start looking after them again. I knew it would take a while to completely get back on my feet and, in the short-term, my wife and I have been visiting our local food bank to help us out. You can’t imagine what a difference a box of food makes and I don’t know what we would have done without this organisation.

After a recent visit to the food bank, I received a call from my Public Protection Officer saying that the food bank had received a complaint from a member of the public who had seen me there. My Public Protection Officer told me that the only way to deal with this would be for me to meet the head of the food bank and have a conversation about my conviction with them. I feel bad enough about having to use the food bank without having to tell them that I am on the sex offenders register. Does the fact that I did something wrong years ago, for which I’ve been punished, mean that my family and I aren’t allowed to eat? Having to have the conversation with the manager wasn’t a pleasant experience but I’ve managed to convince the manager that I’m no risk to anybody using the organisation and I’m pretty sure that she understands the situation.

Yesterday I received a call from a local employer about a job I’d applied for. I’d disclosed that I had a conviction and the details of it. The young man on the phone told me that he’d checked with Head Office to ‘see whether they could employ a sex offender’. Guess what I was told? ‘Don’t bother coming in for an interview’.

As you can imagine, I can get pretty low at times. I accept that I did something terrible when I was a young man going through puberty. I deserved to be punished and I’ve served my sentence. The person I was then is nowhere like the person I am today.

I count myself lucky that I’ve got a fantastic, supportive partner but I just want to be left alone to be a father, a husband, a provider and a protector.

By Duncan (name changed to protect identity)

 

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  • Comment – Let us know your thoughts on this post by commenting below
  • Information – We have practical self-help information on convictions for sexual offences.
  • Discuss this issue – There are some interesting discussions related to this issue on our online forum

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