Dealing with criminal allegations / police investigations

[Sepul]

I wonder if anyone has dealt with the police child abuse investigations with regard to the allegations of sexual nature and how it went. The mother of my daughter reported me to the police for one of the allegations of sexual nature (from me towards my daughter) that she submitted to the family court (in her position statement) several months after I applied to court to seek full custody for my daughter. I gave a no comment interview just three days before my recent directions hearing. I was obviously very disturbed. And this is likely what the mother wanted - to intimidate me and harass me in a way before the hearing, hoping that I would drop my pursuit for a full live order with my daughter.

The police did not say anything at the end of the interview. I gave a no comment interview as advised by solicitor, but off the record I described the background of the family case to them. I understand that they are now investigating the allegation against me. I gave a call to the criminal defence company (who provided a criminal solicitor to help me during the interview) and they confirmed that there will be only two outcomes: 1) charges pressed with an invite to go to court; or 2) NFA. However, they said that to go to court - the case should show my guilt “beyond reasonable doubt”, and CPS should agree with it.

This criminal allegation has obviously affected my case - I have not received any interim contact since the mother is now arguing that there is a police investigation.

Should I search for a private criminal solicitor to provide a second opinion in terms of what I should be prepared for? Can anyone recommend a good criminal defence company experienced in sexual child abuse allegations?

 

[Ash]

I know there are others on here who have had such things - false allegations to the Police. I'm sure you'll get some tips on how to handle this.

 

[Kyle]

Not directly. And for a different allegation. But a former colleague of mine some years ago was falsely accused of rape, against his child's mother, by the mother, half way through Family Proceedings for a Child Arrangements Order in an attempt to throw his chances (and his entire life) under the bus. He was arrested. Interviewed. An investigation ensued. The case collapsed against him and the police ended up investigating her because they found evidence that she made the whole thing up. The judge threw the book at her as this had tied up the courts, the Police and CPS for nearly 3 years (not to mention the impact it had on him and his family). She received the prison sentence and the child went to live with him.

I would like to think that both the Police and the CPS, are acutely aware of the volume of these types of allegations being made during Family Proceedings, and the motives behind them are clear for all to see.

The link below takes you to the Crown Prosecution Services guidance on such cases. Criminal and Family proceedings running parallel.
Scrolling down to: Criminal and Family Proceedings, Role of the Police and CPS in Family Proceedings and Protocol with the Local Authority offers some useful insight into the approach. But conducting a search for specialist criminal legal representation is definitely advisable. I would want skilled advice to help me navigate. A Google search provides a list of all the UK's top law firms specialising in this area of law. (We can't advertise on the forum). Almost all of them provide insight into their experience and share former clients reviews.

https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidan...idelines-prosecuting-cases-child-sexual-abuse

"The focus in the Family Courts is on establishing the facts and achieving the most appropriate outcome for the child, not on the prosecution of the alleged abuser.

Therefore, despite the fact that police might be conducting a parallel criminal investigation into the actions of one or more of the parties against a child (or a sibling) who is the subject of the family proceedings, neither the police nor the CPS are parties to the family proceedings.

It would neither be appropriate nor desirable for the police or CPS to be present throughout family proceedings. Many aspects of the hearings would be irrelevant to the criminal investigation and contempt issues may arise if the police or CPS make use in the criminal proceedings of material arising in the Family Court proceedings without the permission of the Family Court.

If an alleged abuser were to incriminate themselves during the course of the family proceedings they would have the benefit of protection from prosecution by virtue of section 98(2) of the Children Act 1989, whereby a statement or admission made in such proceedings is not admissible against the person making it or their spouse in criminal proceedings (other than for an offence of perjury)."

 

[Ash]

That is incredibly helpful Kyle.

 

[Ash]

I think one big difference is - family courts are about the best interests of the child. Police investigations are about justice. It's not exactly in the best interests of the child to be left with a parent who lies, makes false allegations, disrespects the other parent or tells a child lies. That is when you hear about cases where residency is transferred.

In your case, she deliberately raised this quite some time after you applied to court, with no previous issues. That will become clearer to the courts as the case progresses.

Where a family court case can get delayed (often the intention of false allegations) is if it gets referred to the CPS. Hopefully the Police will just close the case.

You do hear of people saying "give her enough rope and she'll hang herself" and this does happen. It may completely backfire on her (as it did with my ex, whose allegations were pretty minor and ridiculous). What she was not clever enough to realise was that her behaviour and her habit of lying about everything, made her the worse parent.

It's all intended to make you want to give up and go away. Hang in there.

 

[Sepul]

Thank you for the article.

I am struggling to find a specialist company that could help me defend vs a child sexual abuse allegation. Is there any ratings on that topic?

I have found this list, but it is general crime:

Crime: general in London | Law firm and lawyer rankings from The Legal 500 United Kingdom - Solicitors guide

www.legal500.com

The ones that I found in google search “child abuse defense” are not on that list.

If anyone here has experienced child sexual abuse allegations, please share your stories.

 

[Ash]

I'll just update this a bit. Sepal applied to court after years of parenting (with concerns about the Mother and social services involved with the Mother) then a few months later the Mother reported him to the Police with an allegation. The silver bullet type thing. No contact ordered until section 7 done.

The situation at the moment is concern as to whether the police will progress the allegation or drop it.

 

[Kyle]

Sepal, try being a bit more specific with your Google search. "Accused of child sexual abuse solicitors UK" isn't the most pleasant of searches for anyone but the results are good because the allegation is extremely common and Law Firms that specialise in this area are numerous.

The police will need some form of evidence against you to be able to charge you with an offence. If, during the investigation stage, it is found that there is a distinct lack of evidence against you that renders any further action impossible, the police may drop the case before proceeding to the CPS.

I can't for the life of me see how the police can proceed to the CPS, a malicious false allegation purely designed to derail family proceedings.

 

[Ash]

I can't for the life of me see how the police can proceed to the CPS, a malicious false allegation purely designed to derail family proceedings.

Exactly

 

[Sepul]

Just to update, the police gave me a ring on Thursday, 10 days after my no-comment interview, and said that they would close it with NFA. I received a confirmation email from the police yesterday, addressed to my criminal solicitor with me cc’ed.

I plan to respond to thank you them for such a speedy closure and ask to record this allegation as malicious and as harassment, arguing that it was submitted on purpose just before the important court hearing in order to disrupt my case. This is to preempt further allegations like this before the upcoming hearings.

 

[Ash]

Great news it's NFA!

 

[Scotay]

One thing i did years ago after multiple accusations, late night home visits and false allegations which all ended up NFA was i raised an official complaint against the police for harassment.

What i did stress in my complaint was i had no issues with the police officers concerned nor their conduct but the fact that they were being used to facilitate harassments by my ex with no reaction from the police to these multiple false allegations with no evidence to back them up.

In the end i got an apology from an inspector and the ex was warned as to her conduct and how any further false allegations would be treated.

 

[Mitty]

Hi all - just joined
Well my story includes one arrest (Mothers boyfriend for raping my 4yo daughter), 5 Police investigations, no charges..yet but now all filed.
Only found out today that Mother is getting legal aid and thus now explains her BS allegation of my harassment of her, which as we had been split up for over two years, I was interviewed for "Stalking without fear.."! The PC told my free crim sol before I arrived it was nonsense and shouldnt be happening and it was closed NFA the next day.
So no DV allegations anyway and I want to now report the legal aid claim as fraudulent. Cut the head (money) off this wicked snake and I know she'll walk away from another child. Any thoughts anyone?

 

[Ash]

One thing i did years ago after multiple accusations, late night home visits and false allegations which all ended up NFA was i raised an official complaint against the police for harassment.

What i did stress in my complaint was i had no issues with the police officers concerned nor their conduct but the fact that they were being used to facilitate harassments by my ex with no reaction from the police to these multiple false allegations with no evidence to back them up.

In the end i got an apology from an inspector and the ex was warned as to her conduct and how any further false allegations would be treated.

That sounds like a good move.

 

[Sepul]

I have finally received the Cafcass safeguarding letter, in which it is stated that my now 13-year old daughter is actually known to social services.

Three and a half years ago, her maternal grandmother reported that the stepfather was sexually abusing my daughter. She was reporting him to the police, GP, and NSPCC for three months. Each time, these services could not get confirmatory info from my daughter, probably because the mother coached her to cover her husband.

I was not aware of all of this. My daughter was interrogated by the police when she was 9! The grandma stated that the sexual abuse started when my daughter was 8! This is shocking info. I remember that my daughter had a mentor for six months from one child charity in 2019, but the mother told me that it was from the school and that it was nothing special. But in fact, that referral came from the social services. I remember that my daughter was very reserved during that time when she stayed at my place in 2019, but she did not tell me anything. I felt that something was wrong, but I could not get any info from her.

I will have a Section 7 meeting with a social worker next Tuesday, 3 Jan 2023 and a Section 7 review hearing at the end of January 2023. I have already had a brief conversation with the worker and expressed my concerns about these sexual abuse allegations. Cafcass said that the stepfather may pose a sexual abuse threat to my daughter in its letter, but it has checked him on a wrong name and DOB. He is also a foreigner (from Romania), being in this country for around five years. He is around 10 years younger than his wife.

So basically, I have not seen my daughter for five months because I applied to court. She is full time with a potential sexual abuser and I cannot do anything about it!

I applied to court because my daughter said to me in July 2022 that she wants to live with me. She also said to her school that she does not feel safe and comfortable at home and that her mother physically abused her.

Cafcass released this letter only to the court, but not to parents, for the last hearing in November 2022. This hugely disadvantaged me since I was not aware of this potential sexual abuse story.

I also found out that the mother of my daughter applied to court and obtained PR for my daughter to her husband after the first hearing following my application to court. I do not have PR though I have been requesting it in every hearing since August 2022. I cannot obtain any info directly or engage in any meaningful conversations with any services. I applied for sole residency in July 2022, I was thinking about 50/50, but now I do not see any other result but sole residency if there is any justice.

The grandma would not make this up, she took huge efforts to protect my daughter. I know her tel numbers, but I am hesitant to contact her. On the other hand, I think that the social worker should speak to her as part of Section 7.

I would welcome any advice. Yes, the sexual abuse allegations were made a while ago, but it may still continue. I am also concerned that my daughter did not have enough on the persecution side to protect her in 2019. I was not aware of anything. She may be ashamed to talk about it. She may try to forget and deny it even to herself. I know that she was referred to CAMHS, but she may need an advanced sexual abuse psychologist to start talking about it. While she is in her mother’s full custody - I see that this will be challenging to achieve.

Several ideas:

Should I talk to NSPCC?

Should I talk to the police and ask them to check him more carefully? Or seek their general advice?

Should I speak to private criminal solicitors?

Should I speak to the grandma? Some people advised me that it may be deemed as a collusion. But she is an important witness. At the same time she is also a mother of the mother. Her daughter may convince her to backtrack. Although she cannot claim that she did not make these allegations regardless of any backtrack, she did make them.

Should I inform the school about newly known to me allegations? The reason here - the school may be more careful with my daughter, they may engage prof psychologists to help her talk and open up.

PS: My daughter wanted to learn boxing and I did not get why, now I know - she feels insecure at her home.

 

[Ash]

Sorry you haven't had any replies - probably due to Christmas and New Year. I would be interested to see what others think if they've had similar things. My own, cautious, view right now would be - hang fire and deal with the Section 7 - rather than do anything yourself while the section 7 is going on. And let the social worker know your concerns about possibly inadequate checks into the stepfather's past.

 

[Kyle]

The mother of your daughter made allegations against you, as family court proceedings got underway. This resulted in no further (police) action.

The maternal grandmother has made allegations against the step-father. But you say a police investigation initially failed to materialise because of a lack of information from your daughter.

Call me cynical, but I'm seeing a pattern here.

Child sexual abuse is a very serious (and despicable) criminal offence so if these allegations are true, why have the police not prosecuted?

Equally, making false allegations of such a serious offence is also despicable and typically met with a similar sentence, as my friends case several posts above describes.

The NSPCC will always welcome any correspondence regarding concerns surrounding children and if you put the above to them in an email they would probably suggest submitting a referral to children's services and to notify the police.

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/reporting-abuse/what-if-suspect-abuse/

So contacting the police in the first instance is what you can and should do if you suspect this activity is taking place.

Below is the Non-Abusing Parent Guide produced by the charity Stop It Now. It provides a concise overview of such a scenario.

https://www.stopitnow.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/WG-Non-Abusing-Parent-Guide_FEB21.pdf

But If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the investigation into the step-father, presuming there really was one, initially reported by the maternal grandmother, I would call the police and ask to speak to someone to get the facts from them. Preferable to taking someone's word for it. And, forgive me for judging, the word of these two women doesn't appear to count for much.

Asking for the same advice from children's services would also offer some clarity, and hopefully, reassurance.

It would be interesting to learn what the police response is.

 

[Ash]

I still think he should speak to the social worker first, when a Section 7 is going on and it's mid court case. Rather than be accused of shit stirring, for want of a better phrase! Of course it's understandable when you've read all that - but I would go through the social worker first.

 

[Kyle]

I still think he should speak to the social worker first, when a Section 7 is going on and it's mid court case. Rather than be accused of shit stirring, for want of a better phrase! Of course it's understandable when you've read all that - but I would go through the social worker first.

I'd like to think that the response would be similar either way, seeing as the Local Authorities (Council/Children's Services/Police) are supposed to share the information. But I smell a lot of BS from both these women. And I wouldn't be taking a word they say as any sort of gospel.

Sepal, regarding Parental Responsibility, simply requesting it during current proceedings won't materialise much, if anything.

https://www.gov.uk/parental-rights-responsibilities/apply-for-parental-responsibility

But seeing as you're already in proceedings, your family court will likely expect a C2 court form, Making an application in existing court proceedings relating to children. https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...eedings-to-be-joined-as-or-cease-to-be-a-part

If you are applying for a parental responsibility order, you must also file a separate completed FM1 form with the C2 application.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...on-for-a-family-mediation-assessment-form-fm1

For the step-father to be granted PR, all he needed was to be married to the biological parent with whom the child lives with and have the consent of everyone else with PR.

 

[Ash]

I think he already applied for it on his initial C100. It was something I needed to check out as well - if you could apply for PR on a C100 and the answer yes, both PR and CAO at the same time on C100.