Geelong Gent

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/20...648109240.html

Thought you should be aware of this article - especially if you are in Wellington region.

Be vigilent

Kiwi

RedMonsk

How disturbing!

Scottish Family

Oh dear lord that is so chilling!!

Naively, I was somehow hoping there'd be less of that sort of thing in NZ.

Suddenly, not being able to video your kids at the local swimming pool doesn't seem such a high price to pay for your kids safety after all!

Maybe our tight child protection legislation isn't really such a bad thing?

Shirley

jill1420

Hi Scottish Family.....................i dont live very far from you and was chilled to see a report in the Daily Record a fortnight ago re. a paedophile that had done time for same and on release told a social worker openly ................. You do know what I did dont you? Im going to do it again..................and Im going to kill them next time. The poor social worker reported it but obviously alot of red tape involved. Can't remember how it got into the newspaper. By the way he has been rehoused 10 mins from my house right next to two schools??????????????????????
Sadly this is the way of the world. I literally showed my kids his photo to show them these people usually look quite 'normal'.
If there was a land without these scum we would be paying to get in.
Our child protection has tightened up because of incidents like the family liason police officer involved in Holly & Megan case in England was involved in child pornography and worse and also that the accused in the case were a school janitor and classroom assistant.
Outside agencies didnt work well together then and disclosure wasnt used sufficiently also all British forces are liasing much better.............thank god. People will still slip through the net and many are underground.
Statistically NZ has lower sexually related crimes than UK...............however statistics can and are juggled. NZ has higher domestic and child physical abuse rates (so Ive read on here)

Yeh and I stupidly took my camcorder to EK ice rink a few years back because the kids wanted me to film them skating........................luckily nobody said anything but when I got home my hubby couldnt believe I had taken it.........................its a real shame its come to this (but I obviously understand why) Ive got both my kids first nativity plays on film and these are moments that all mums want to capture.

Good luck with your move..................................... ........will be following Jan 08'

kiwi_child

The problem with highlighting cases like this is it sends alarm waves through the community with some people becoming paranoid. Some are likely to read danger into a variety of situations, wrap their kids up in 'cotton wool' and potentially damage them psychologically long term.

I cannot emphasise strongly enough the need for effective communication between parents and their children, and the need for parents to concentrate on teaching their children strategies to identify and deal with risky situations without freaking them out.

Children must feel safe and this is best achieved by allowing them to experience challenges, develop their understanding,confidence and skills and to know that the vast majority of adults are essentially good people, while still being aware there are a very few people to be wary of. Getting the balance right is paramount. They need to be able to have their childhood in preference to a therapist!

I did a quite lengthy post on practical strategies for parents to teach their children, a while back. A search on BE 'strategies for keeping your child safe' or similar should bring it up for those who would like to read it. I actually think it was on the NZ forum.

Geelong Gent

That would be very useful KC.

It is a balancing act between keeping your children confident in meeting new people and experiencing new things - but also instilling in them "stranger danger".

I just thought people should beaware that even in beautiful NZ there are freaks. It should not put people off but retain strategies you currently have or new ones if KC can find her list.

kiwi_child

Worth remembering in the vast majority of child sexual abuse cases, the child and offender know each other, often being family, step-family, boarder, babysitter, friend of family, etc etc

I'll see if I can find it.

kiwi_child

Here's the post:
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...our+child+safe

JAJ

You should be aware that as a general rule, when you & your children are in a public place, there is no legal bar (in most Western jurisdictions) on someone else taking a photograph or filming you. And the same applies to your own rights to photograph someone else.

Private property owners are allowed (again, as a general rule) to restrict the use of cameras on their land or premises if they wish. However it is generally not a matter of criminal law.

Of course, how and when one takes photographs is a matter of etiquette and courtesy. But the bottom line is that while you are out in public you may end up in a photo or film taken casually by someone else and there is little or nothing you can do about it.

http://4020.net/words/photorights.php explains the law in New South Wales. You should investigate what the law in is New Zealand.

Cape Blue

I'm not sure that is fully correct,

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cr...pes-per-capita

seems to indicate 50% more rapes per capita.

But as you say, stats can sometimes be juggled

frattonlad

As a parent looking to move to Wellington this is a tad disturbing. Do they not have a thing in NZ like Sarah's Law, where known offenders are advertised as to say. Wrong words there but I cannot think of what to put.
If anyone came near my 2 young lads I would end up doing time!! No second thoughts!!

simonmarkellis

I'm with you on that, and as a parent myself i'd probably hold the b@$&ard down for you. However as i am also looking at moving to wellington, i'm no more disturbed by this report now than before i read it. There are perverts in every major city all around the world, Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch are no exception, it just re-emphasises the need for vigilance and that New Zealand isn't crime free.

kiwi_child

The problem with disclosure laws is that it creates the potential for vigilante action, sometimes against completely innocent people. Such was the case in A UK town when a group of locals mistook the word paediatrician to mean paedophile.

On top of this are massive amounts of studies that prove these disclosure laws produce negative outcomes for the offender and communtiy at large and as a result actually place our children at much greater risk. The US 'Amber Alert' is far a far more constructive and effective tool in keeping kids safe.

It's an extremely emotive topic but years of research and experience has shown that offenders released back into the community are best left to the authorities to monitor.

It's far far more important to teach children effective strategies for identifying and dealing with potentially risky situations while at the same time reassuring them that adults at large are decent people.

kiwi_child

Provided this does into turn into unlawful vigilante activity or psychologically damaging the children, which can and does happen when parents overeact and no longer allow their children to have a childhood.

kiwi_child

This is a natural reaction but not an acceptable one. Yes you should protect your children and the best way to do that is teach them about effective strategies to keep safe while reassuring them the world is not a place to be afraid of.

As for dealing with anyoen who approached or touched your children: that is what agencies like the police exist for. People who just think they can take the law into their own hands when it suits them are not being (or teaching their children) responsible citizens/citizenship.