Two things stick out:
During the taped interview, the culprit mentioned other friends of his who were committing acts on their siblings, but no action was taken on this.
Indeed one Child Abuse Unit officer, DC Paul Alabaster, admitted he told the 12-year-old boy, and always told other young sex offenders, to ‘do it with someone your own age next time’.Just how many cases went unreported? How many families will now wonder if their family too was affected?
And then there's this...
Hawkings wrote her Operation Falcon report during July and August 2013 and then submitted it to the Deputy Chief Constable Derek Benson. Though serious failings were acknowledged, the gross misconduct against all four Child Abuse Unit officers had been downgraded.
An appeal to the IPCC confirmed there would be no more than misconduct meetings for DC Alabaster and DC Bainbridge. By this time DI Glassfield had retired.
‘We discovered the culprit had admitted the rape in his taped interview but the officers did not report him for the offence. Thus the Essex Police Child Abuse Unit officers decided to give a caution for rape of a small child without CPS advice. We specifically asked if the failing officers would return to work within the Child Abuse Unit and were assured that this would “absolutely not” happen,’ Peter says.And, poor sap, he believed them.
Bainbridge and Alabaster had returned to the Essex Police Child Abuse Unit, where they remain as serving officers.That's right. They remain there to this day. Surely the officer who wrote the report is outraged at this?
In a statement, Essex Police confirmed that three officers had been issued with written warnings but refused to comment further.
‘For our family it will never be over,’ says Sara.
‘Hawkings has now been promoted to Detective Chief Superintendent – Head of Public Protection and the Child Abuse Unit.‘Ah. I guess not.
Check out Ch Insp Ben Hodder of Thurrock.
ReplyDelete"Well, what to say about the appalling revelations about Essex Police...other than no-one should be too surprised?"
ReplyDeleteNo real opinions then, JuliaM?
Another cut and paste of old news might have served a purpose, had it included the more interesting comments in the Mail.
I wonder if the rapists father and the policemen involved were in the same Lodge?
ReplyDeleteWe don't know all the ins and out of the case, so let's make some generalities here.
ReplyDeleteYes, the ages are at the extreme ends of the spectrum here, but the bottom line here is, 2 kids got caught playing "Mummys and Daddys" in the garden shed.
All kids do it, and have done it at some point, it's all part of growing up.
That doesn't mean to say that if they get caught doing it, they don't get a bollocking, but Police involvement and "Rape" allegations being banded about? On balance, I think the Police handled it proportionately.
In my opinion, this isn't about closure and ordeals etc, this is about parents who are blinded by the "£" signs in front of their eyes.
At last Julia,a real story where the police have messed up.
ReplyDeleteAnd it has attracted the two biggest buffoons on the internet.One of whom hasn't posted on here for ages.
I feel "shame" on behalf of all the police in the whole world.
Jaded
OK Jaded, what would you have done in such circumstances? You think hauling kids through the justice system as "Sex offenders" is going to help them in the long run in any way?
ReplyDeleteFrom what I can tell, it seems that there was a few of them indulging amongst themselves. Now perhaps I should come at this from another angle here, teach kids about sex at 5, and lo and behold kids are caught doing it. Yet, all on here with the exception of myself are shocked, shocked I tell you.
Does it no longer come as any surprise that parents are no long able to discipline their kids, when the Police are the first port of call when someone is called "A fat slag" on facebook..
Budvar old chap,you know the rules on here.Julia posts an anti-police story,I leap in to put the other side and others shout me down.
ReplyDeleteI mostly agree with what you say but when the parents call us for facebook crap we cannot tell them to sod off,as much as we want to.
The "shame" was sarcasm BTW.
Jaded
You can only aspire to buffoonery, WC Jaded.
ReplyDeleteIgnorance, grotesque English and that hilarious claim to other plod that you are middle class and educatid (sic), defines you as Deficient.
Park Life!
ReplyDeleteNerd!
ReplyDelete"... had it included the more interesting comments in the Mail. "
ReplyDeleteIt's all I can do to hold my nose long enough for the articles, MTG, without delving into the comment section too...
"...but the bottom line here is, 2 kids got caught playing "Mummys and Daddys" in the garden shed."
Errr, no. That's NOT what this is about at all.
"Now perhaps I should come at this from another angle here, teach kids about sex at 5, and lo and behold kids are caught doing it."
I don't this this kid was paying much attention in class, actually. In fact, it seems the teaching here was done via the Internet.
"... had it included the more interesting comments in the Mail. "
ReplyDeleteIt's all I can do to hold my nose long enough for the articles, MTG, without delving into the comment section too...
"...but the bottom line here is, 2 kids got caught playing "Mummys and Daddys" in the garden shed."
Errr, no. That's NOT what this is about at all.
"Now perhaps I should come at this from another angle here, teach kids about sex at 5, and lo and behold kids are caught doing it."
I don't this this kid was paying much attention in class, actually. In fact, it seems the teaching here was done via the Internet.