If the police have accused you, rightly or wrongly, of child abuse, it’s important to get legal advice. If you’ve been arrested, you’ll be offered free and independent legal advice, if invited to the station “for a chat” then beware – this may well be a trap and before you know it you are under caution and being recorded. If you find yourself being railroaded into this position simply ask for the meeting to stop while you get representation (they will always try to dissuade you against this as it makes their life a bit more frustrated) however it is your legal right so stick to your guns. Why make their life easier, they are after a quick, easy score but ultimately they have to prove guilt, not for you to prove your innocence.
To get the file off their desk they may offer you a “plead guilty and well just give you a caution” tactic, they would only do this if there is insufficient evidence to charge you, and giving a caution is better than nothing as far as they are concerned. If there is little or no evidence then you should leave the station a free man (or woman) with no stain on your character.
We would always suggest that you have ourselves, or a solicitor present when the police talk to you, a
simple “I’m sorry” would constitute guilt and damage your defence – simply confirm your name and address and ask for professional legal representation.
The outcomes of child molestation are a much more complex phenomenon. Most people accused of child sexual abuse do not go on to become perpetrators. It is also found that offenders of child molestation were sexually victimized at a younger age too. But there are situations when a child gets molested by a known person. More than 8 out of 10 children who are sexually abused know the person who abused them.
The police have a legal responsibility to safeguard children under 18, together with other agencies such as the local authority, healthcare professionals and schools. When a child has been the victim of child abuse within the family, police will often work together with social workers to interview the child or conduct joint visits to the home.
We know that most child abuse is never reported, particularly sexual abuse that occurs in the home or the home of trusted family members or friend so. Whilst there is an appreciation of the victimization of the accuser it does not satisfy the legal requirement to justice. At Lestons we would always seek for any client found guilty of such a criminal offence to volunteer to join in a course of treatment to address the underlying reasons for the offence.
The free legal advice offered at the police station is there for you, however, we would politely acknowledge the following:-
- The police officers will greatly encourage the use of the duty solicitor – they have time limits for charging someone and want to get you processed as quickly as possible.
- The police officer will state that the duty solicitor is impartial – this may NOT be the case.
- The duty solicitor would be at the station very frequently, building a bond of friendship between them and the officers – this casts great doubt over their impartiality
- They both effectively work for, or on behalf of the government, the duty solicitor will not want to hinder the case and frustrate his police friends, again this casts doubt over their true allegiance.
At Lestons we view impartiality and representing the client (not the state) as the cornerstone of justice, as such we would instruct a local solicitor to attend on our behalf if we do not have a local solicitor available we will ask for you to have access to one via video link. Do not talk to the police while you are waiting for representation. They may use tricks such as hanging around after bringing you a cup of tea, just in case you wanted to tell them (confess) what happened (as this would be after an arrest the “any statement you make can be used against you in a court of law” statement then you can rest assured any comment you make that may harm your defence will surface later on.
Remember it is for them to prove guilt, not for you to admit it
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