owl Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 Thank goodness some sanity is prevailing. While those posts were going on, I was talking to a lovely helpful lady at NSPCC. She says that Wendy should certainly talk to a solicitor for her own future protection. She should also go to the government site dealing with websites of this nature. It is jointly run by NSPCC and the police. www.ceop.gov.uk There is a box to click "report harmful content" where a complaint can be logged against a website. The incident will eventually be reported to CEOP but if Wendy would like to speed things up, she can log it on CEOP site as described. If she would rather NSPCC logged it on her behalf, she can ring their main number or email them on [email protected] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurel n Hardy Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 can only echo what everyone else has said to wendy and family Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celeste Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 Good grief !!, poor Wendy, how galling to be accused of the very crime your trying to stop, the policeman could have used a bit of common sense. Hope it all works out, and a huge pat on the back for doing something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 Good grief !!, poor Wendy, how galling to be accused of the very crime your trying to stop, the policeman could have used a bit of common sense. Hope it all works out, and a huge pat on the back for doing something. Totally agree, certainly makes you think twice about being a 'good citizen'. for Wendy and her family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kats n greys Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 (edited) Hoping Wendy and her family get this sorted soon Wendy deserves a written apology over this treatment Edited April 9, 2009 by kats n greys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyMalc Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 Bloody L!! :ohmy: That is just the most unbelievable way to handle something this sensitive! It does make you think twice about reporting anything indeed - what were those muppets thinking!!!???!! Lots of :GroupHug: to Wendy and her family, and I hope they will get a written apology (at least!) very soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 i'm speechless, how can the officer treat her like this, surely they have training for all senarios, to say this was his first time was no excuse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murtle Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 The way it was handled was shocking and I'm glad that the police now realise that. But please please please don't download pictures like that for any reason. If the site was to be taken down, the pictures wouldn't be traced back to anywhere but your PC and as awful as it sounds it would be your word against their's. I know Wendy did it through desperation, but please don't do it. I am glad that they are looking in to it and hope that they get a positive outcome from the investigation. Wendy, it may seem odd, but some form of support like victim support (for crime) or something may be beneficial. The people who deal with these investigations are normally given much support because of what they have to look at. If you feel you need someone to talk to about it that will understand please don't think that's unusual or indeed how to deal with your feelings about the situation. Please do remember that your daughter is safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neoclassic Perk Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 Oh, poor Wendy I fully understand the processes which led to this situation; sadly, very few people DO report these sites to their local police, so the process isn't in place to deal with people who innocently report it. Police officers "on the front line" (rather than those in specialist units) are given a very basic understanding of the laws they enforce because there is just so much that they can't be experts at all of it. They will have been trained to seize computers and caution anyone who admits to downloading this type of material, in order for specialist teams to further investigate. I have no doubt that Wendy's motives will become clear once her computer is examined - unfortunately, this is likely to take some months as there is such a backlog of work for the expert forensic examiners who do this. The reasons that are given by people who have this material in their possession can be very plausible, and distressing thought it is for Wendy, I hope that the fact that the Police were so robust in their actions is reassurance that this type of crime is taken very seriously Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReikiAnge Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 I can appreciate if the police arrive to seize someone's computer on suspicion of them having committed a crime, because someone has reported them/they've been "traced", they will have procedures to adhere to and rightly so. However, Wendy reported the situation to the police because of her concern about the sites she'd found - it's not as though they traced her, is it, she made the contact? So why common sense couldn't have come into play and saved the poor family this heartache, I don't understand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
collies r best Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 Tons of sent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neoclassic Perk Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 However, Wendy reported the situation to the police because of her concern about the sites she'd found - it's not as though they traced her, is it, she made the contact? So why common sense couldn't have come into play and saved the poor family this heartache, I don't understand While Wendy had the best of intentions; mad thought it sounds, a lot of people who gain enjoyment from these images actually do report it to the police or other hotlines themselves - especially if they have reason to think that they have been found out by a friend or family member. The reason very often given to police is that they were "doing research" for a book, or project and assume that this will let them off the hook Common sense suggests that criminals would not make contact with the police themselves, but in reality, this often happens - and Police are made aware that just because someone reports something doesn't mean they are innocent I am confident that this will all be resolved for Wendy in time; but it is a very distressing situation for everyone involved Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owl Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 Nice lady at NSPCC asked me to tell my online community about www.ceop.gov.uk and to put the word around. It's a way of getting info through to the specialists fast without dealing with police officers who may have limited experience, if any, of this kind of crime. Police officers should also give you a receipt for anything they confiscate. Even a very new copper should have known that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendywoo1972 Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 Hello all, I have not had a chance yet to read through the whole thread. My computer has been siezed as evidence. Technically I have commited a crime because I copied the website to my computer incase it was closed down before the police could view it. I could indeed be charged for commiting a crime. The CID spoke with me today and assured me that right now they are treating me as a witness not a criminal, my computer will be gone for at least a year and when it is returned to me my whole hard drive will be wiped. I never went looking for any of this it came to my door step the policeman who came into my house this morning was very aggressive towards me until Johan came home, my daughter is in pieces because she saw her mother sobbing with a strange man in the house she tried to comfort me and wiped my eyes with a baby wipe. Nobody has been able to garuntee me that I will not at some point be charged with the crime of having indecent images on my computer, even though I thought I was helping the police by doing this and by their own admitance most people would make the same mistake as me as a natural reaction but ignorance is not a defence. Also they accepted that they should have come out to me yesterday but they didnt know how to handle the situation so that is why it was left until the following day. I do not regret calling the police.... because it will be investigated but I do feel a huge weight on my shoulders that I have been treated as I have today. And that I dont know what will come of this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathyw Posted April 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 Soneone told me about the special unit for this at Scotland Yard and I passed the email and info onto Wendy. Her Mum phoned them and told them what had happened and was told that they would pass the information onto Wendy's local police - Wendy had already done that, shortly after the police phoned to say someone would be round within the hour and he came while I was talking to Wendy. Lines crossed yet again? Despite all this Wendy said she would still do it again if she ever saw anything like it again - brave lady. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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