Help London Teacher Falsely accused/ Bail/Computer Analysis

[LondonTeacher]

Dear All,

Feeling low and discouraged.

I'm a Primary School teacher in London and I've been falsely accused of grooming a child (11 years old)
His parent made the allegation against me and I was devastated!

I was told on Nov 13, that I need to attend a particular police station for a chat.

The DC told me why I was at the police station and I mentioned to her, I will say nothing unless a solicitor is present.

I was then put in a cell for 2 hours and then interviewed before being released on bail.

My phone was seized and the DC sent officers to my house to take my laptop, digital camera and USB sticks etc.

I was released on bail till Feb 2016.

2 days before answering bail I was told that the data from my iPhone 6 has just been downloaded which amounts to 2000 pages of data.

Q: Is 2000 pages of data the norm for iPhone?

I was rebailed to March 15 but was told yesterday that they are still waiting on laptop download and I got rebailed to May 5.

Q: What is the current waiting time for computer forensic analysis in London?

I'm just wondering how long I will be on bail. It's very frustrating and I'm at my wits end.

Thanks for reading. I appreciate all your help.

[AmandaF]

Hi- sorry you had to find your way here.

there really is no time schedule for any of this.
Our electronic was seized and the analysis was completed fairly quickly but it made no difference to the length of time we waited .

As for the amount of data I have no idea (technophobe) but just be careful- even this can be manipulated. If you are a 100% certain there is nothing suspicious on there but they find something don't accept it. I personally know of one man who's life was turned upside down by this only to find out eventually that a different IP address had downloaded files to his computer.

Sorry this is no comfort but I think everyone will say the same. Just hold on and prepare to wait it out.

[YearsOfHell]

Sorry you have found your way here but welcome to the forum nonetheless.
AmandaF is right in what she says.
You really need to just hang in there.
Write down as much as you can remember about what was happening in your life at the time of the alleged offence.
Even if it seems insignificant, not only will it give you something to focus on but it may help with a defence, should you need it.
The investigation is likely to take months if not years as the police are under pressure and will have plenty of cases running at the same time.
In the meantime it's an absolute nightmare waiting, but that's all you can do, wait.
Having a solicitor in interview was the best thing to do.
Be careful what "new" information you give to the police as they can go back to the accuser and it will give them a chance to change their story.
Anything you find that could be used in defence should be kept to yourself until it's needed.
You've not been charged so they can't have much in the way of evidence, or you would be in court now.
In the meantime Hang In There!
It's a bumpy ride but many of us have got through it.
Trust your innocence.
YoH

[LondonTeacher]

London Teacher Falsely accused

Thanks Amanda and YoH for your reply.

It seems as if I have a very long wait ahead of me.

It's not a good feeling knowing that my life is place on
"Hold"

Thanks once again for your kind response x

[AmandaF]

Are you still working?

If so I know sometimes unions have advice lines for legal matters too.
It is a horrible feeling , not knowing the hows, whys and wherefores.

Do you actually know the child involved? Have you taught him and if so what subjects?

There was a case of a teacher who was accused of assaulting a child during PE lessons but had never actually taught him.
Have a look at www.factuk.org

[Faith]

The wait is exceptionally difficult - arguably the worst part.
Use it productively to build any evidence and prepare but also remember to live your life too, as impossible as it sounds. Look after your state of mind by using your support networks, continuing to have hobbies and if it gets painful, there is no shame in going to your GP.

The length of wait for IT forensics is very long in London sadly - there are literally piles and piles of hard drives sitting unchecked as we speak.

Do not let the length of wait make you draw any conclusions into what they could be finding. The most likely thing is that they haven't even touched it yet.

Often charges can come before forensics if they feel they already have sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction. While you should never assume anything, you could take this as a potential indicator that they are quite reliant on what they are hoping to find on devices. If you are comfortable in the fact that there is nothing on there, then obviously you have a better fighting chance of battling this moving forward.

While it is wise not to ever trust the police, it must also be said that these kinds of checks are run all the time - thousands a month. While corruption does occur - as some of our members can sadly attest to - the majority of occasions, these things ARE done properly and if there is nothing on there, I wouldn't have any undue concerns that something will be found. If, down the line, it is - and that's a big IF, there's a way to approach that if you are certain that it was not accessed by yourself. But that is a tangent not worth fretting over as the likelihood of tampering is generally very low.

Amanda's advice to contact your union is solid, if they are available. The school will, in time (hopefully AFTER the investigation ends but not necessarily) have to conduct their own investigation and that comes with a lesser burden of proof. It will help to have a union on side for that inevitable next chapter.

[LondonTeacher]

Thank you Amanda and Faith

Hi Amanda and Faith

Thanks for your response.

I've been suspended on full pay since November 2015. It's very boring being at home and it's driving me crazy.

I decided to join the gym and take part in The Aplha Course at my local church to get my mind off things.

I teach Y6 in a primary school and the alleged incident happened 2 years ago when the accuser (student) was in my class.

Background to the problem:

I foolishly left my phone on my desk and the boy somehow managed to get my number and sent me an anonymous text later that night.

I didn't know who it was so I texted back. As soon as I realised that it was one of my students, I cease all contact immediately.

I didn't bother to report it to SMT. Thinking about it now, I should have followed my mind and report it to management.

The texts exchanged were very nothing sexual or untoward.

All of a sudden, the parent of the boy decided to inform the Headteacher that I was texting her son when he was in my class 2 years ago.

The police mentioned that it amounts to grooming and that's when this whole debacle started.

They seized my phone and laptop etc but they will see that I have no interest in young children.

No indecent images of children will be found

No chat logs involving children will be found

No incriminating search terms on Google will be found



I was arrested under S15 of the SOA 2003:
"On the suspicion of attempting to meet a boy under 16 following grooming"

I don't know where the police is going to find evidence to support that claim cos there's no texts with me arranging any meeting with the student, there's no evidence or texts between me and him that suggest I wanted to commit a sexual offence involving him

I'll keep you up to date

[Lucky]

mobile phone downloads can be over 3000 pages !!!

the police will take some time to go through it, so don't be alarmed if you keep getting rebailed again and again.

your solicitor should deal with these queries, and also give you an idea of what to expect moving forwards

[Faith]

That does sound very flimsy from what you have said - how long did the texting last? Was it just a few exchanges? This kind of case (again just based on the limited I know) would generally rely heavily, if not exclusively, on evidence on the phone or laptop.

As I said before, the school will also want to investigate at a later date and the biggest question they will want to ask is why you didn't report it to SMT. Naturally, there are various reasons for this - whether it was through fear or through a naive assumption that as nothing untoward had happened and you had stopped it the moment you realised who it was, you didn't think it needed reported, it can be explained. But I would imagine that is the place they might find doubt in you so ensure that you know in your own mind why you didn't report it.

I can see you completely accept it was a mistake not to report it and hindsight can be a very difficult thing.

As for the wait, I hope that it doesn't go on for too long for you but as Lucky says, they will read every single transcript on the phone - every exchange with every contact and not just by text but they will look at tweets, Facebook messages, Whatsapp messages, Snapchats etc.

It can certainly take some significant time and is rarely an indicator of what the end outcome will be. For now, it is out of your hands so focus on looking after yourself and keeping occupied.

[AmandaF]

If they DO find an image on your phone, get a defence team to do the forensics too.
One was found OH's phone which was a pop-up and couldn't be accessed anyway.
No idea where it came from