Baby on the way

[Pumpkin50]

Im due to have a baby boy in December.
My fiancé is a registered sex offended so we always knew social services involvement would happen when we came to have a baby.
We informed the police and my midwife at the earliest of stages and are currently going through a social services assessment pre birth and have done everything we can to co operate.
We have been given mixed information from the start with initially being told we had nothing to worry about and it would be a closed case before baby was born to then being told this was completely wrong and infact the baby would become a “child in need”.

My partners offence was 8 years ago against a 15 year old girl whilst working as a teaching assistant. He has not reoffended since and has been advised he is “low risk”

Social services have said the age and sex of the victim with how long ago it happened and his reoffending history bear no influence on us having a baby he is still classed as a risk to the baby.

Social have said that he will not be allowed any unsupervised contact with the baby and a care plan will be put into place to ensure this. This we can handle if it is something that we can see an end to.

However last time they spoke to us they advised that even when he is off the register and his SHOPO is lifted he will still forever have to follow no unsupervised contact even when he gets to the stage of grandchildren as in social services eyes he will always been seen as a risk due to his conviction.

Surely once he is off the register this can’t be right?! Surely we are in a country that believes in rehabilitation and he can’t always be persecuted for something after he has served his sentence and been taken off the register.

I don’t know if we need legal advice and help with this as right now I don’t know what to believe from social services as they are giving us different information each time we speak to them and the girl just keeps saying I’ll have to ask my manager. If so where do I even look for this sort of legal help!?!

Sorry for the long post

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Pumpkin50,

Welcome the Parents Forum. I am Suzie the online adviser.

Congratulations on your pregnancy.

It is good that you have been so open and honest with children services about your partners conviction.

Children services are carrying out an assessment to find out whether or not your partner poses a risk to your baby and if he does, whether you can protect your baby from your partner possibly sexually abusing your baby.
Until the assessment is completed, any contact your partner will have with baby is likely to be supervised because your partners risk will not be known.
Assessments normally take up to 9 weeks to complete but can take longer if the social worker is waiting for information from other professionals. You will be entitled to a copy of the assessment. Ask the social worker when you will get a copy. Also find out whether the social worker has expertise in assessing your partner or whether there will be an update forensic risk assessment by an expert such as psychologist, which might take longer.

At the end of the assessment a plan will be suggested. You have been told that this might be a child in need plan. That does sound likely as you have been very cooperative with children services.
If they thought your partner posed a risk to your baby then a child protection conference would be held to decide whether there should be a child protection plan.
Please see information about assessments.

Here is information about child in need plans and child protection plans .

To find out about support when sexual abuse is a risk, look at the Parents Protect website .

The NSPCC have a course for Women as protectors that you might be interested in.

If your partner is not happy with the assessment, he could ask for a specialist risk assessment. The Just stop it Now helpline on 0808 1000 900 could advise about risk assessments.
If you need further advice from me, please post again or call our advice line on 0808 801 0366.

Best wishes,
Suzie.

[Mumtobe2024]

Im due to have a baby boy in December.
My fiancé is a registered sex offended so we always knew social services involvement would happen when we came to have a baby.
We informed the police and my midwife at the earliest of stages and are currently going through a social services assessment pre birth and have done everything we can to co operate.
We have been given mixed information from the start with initially being told we had nothing to worry about and it would be a closed case before baby was born to then being told this was completely wrong and infact the baby would become a “child in need”.

My partners offence was 8 years ago against a 15 year old girl whilst working as a teaching assistant. He has not reoffended since and has been advised he is “low risk”

Social services have said the age and sex of the victim with how long ago it happened and his reoffending history bear no influence on us having a baby he is still classed as a risk to the baby.

Social have said that he will not be allowed any unsupervised contact with the baby and a care plan will be put into place to ensure this. This we can handle if it is something that we can see an end to.

However last time they spoke to us they advised that even when he is off the register and his SHOPO is lifted he will still forever have to follow no unsupervised contact even when he gets to the stage of grandchildren as in social services eyes he will always been seen as a risk due to his conviction.

Surely once he is off the register this can’t be right?! Surely we are in a country that believes in rehabilitation and he can’t always be persecuted for something after he has served his sentence and been taken off the register.

I don’t know if we need legal advice and help with this as right now I don’t know what to believe from social services as they are giving us different information each time we speak to them and the girl just keeps saying I’ll have to ask my manager. If so where do I even look for this sort of legal help!?!

Sorry for the long post

Hey, I’m in a very similar situation, just wondered where you guys are at now? We had a PLO dropped on us last minute and I’m currently 38 weeks pregnant with no idea what’s happening! How they treat people is absolutely disgusting. My husbands crime was 16 years ago (non contact)

[Skysie98]

I would like to give you both a bit of hope.

My partner is on the register for 2 more years.

His first offence was when he was 19 and second at 25.

He didn't get the proper help after the first one.
His were both online offences.

Anyway we had a baby girl 18 months ago. Unfortunately she was removed at birth. However she is now being returned we are still together and he will be moving in over a space of a year (This is due to past DV not the sexual risk)

He poses no risk to our daughter at her current age but risk age is 13 however a psychological assessment covered that by then as long as he doesn't reoffend he would have been 15 years or more free and will pose very little risk to her..

Ask for a proper risk assessment by psychological assessment or Lucy Faithfull..

Do inform course, I also paid for safeguarding therapy through stopso.
Get your partners to do inform with Lucy Faithfull.

Never say that they don't pose a risk.

It's hard and they often accsue of things that are not actually relevant.
I do hope both of your stories have good endings.

Skysie98