Husband facing "alleged" historical sexual abuse allegations

[Silver]

Hi everyone your advise will be much appreciated,

So in September @ 5am there was a knock at the door and the police arrested my husband ,he was interviewed for about 15 minutes then released on bail,which has now been extended until March 2017.

The alleged allegations are that 30 years ago he raped his then step son between the ages of 5-8 years old.at his ex girl friends home.
However he had split up with her a year before and was not even living in the same county and had also lost contact with them. He has much evidence to prove this too.

The solicitor said that he gave a good concise account of himself at the interview,

He has been allowed to stay in the family home,our son is 15 years old. The bail conditions are he must not contact his ex or ex step son. Also he is not allowed to be alone with any child under 14 years old

The police are still continuing the investigation. a few days ago he received a letter from the investigating police officer(via an email that his solicitor forwarded),which stated:

"At this stage I cannot confirm I may have to further interview MR X ,investigations are ongoing, with further enquires including witness statements .third party material and CPS decision."

We are aware the police want to speak with his brother we assume to confirm where he was during the alleged years. Which is good, as seemingly they are not completely relying on the so called "victims words".

But for me worryingly on the phone his solicitor said that she has a excellent barrister in line should he be charged, which I thought was a bit premature!
.
fortunately ss have not been in contact with us I just assumed they will be round on day one.
However we now have a red flag by our address which indicates a safe guarding issue(I will start another thread on this as its important you are all aware this happens as soon as there's an issue).


So we are now left not knowing what will happen, just good to have found this forum with people sadly in a similar situation.

[Mr B]

Silver & Husband

From my personal experience you will have an Officer In Charge who will look at you with one aim to find evidence of guilt. No impartiality whatsoever. OIC does not care if you are innocent, just in producing the evidence. Police investigation will produce an internal report that is subject to a Police Threshold test. If substantive evidence is found then you will be progressed to the CPS. 3-4 months for a CPS charging decision.

So any evidence you do have to prove innocent share only with you defence barrister IF charged. DO NOT give this to the Police - they will only go back to the FA who will change evidence to suit.
In the meantime have a really good read of this forum. You will pick up more than I can tell you.

You are not alone, Come back often.
Mr B

[Franticwithworry]

Don't worry about what the solicitor said about a barrister. Many of them work together long term so it was probably intended as reassurance that there didn't need to be a search for one and not a comment on your personal situation.

[Silver]

Silver & Husband

From my personal experience you will have an Officer In Charge who will look at you with one aim to find evidence of guilt. No impartiality whatsoever. OIC does not care if you are innocent, just in producing the evidence. Police investigation will produce an internal report that is subject to a Police Threshold test. If substantive evidence is found then you will be progressed to the CPS. 3-4 months for a CPS charging decision.

So any evidence you do have to prove innocent share only with you defence barrister IF charged. DO NOT give this to the Police - they will only go back to the FA who will change evidence to suit.
In the meantime have a really good read of this forum. You will pick up more than I can tell you.

You are not alone, Come back often.
Mr B

Thank you Mr B ,
very useful advice

We are not sure of the exact time the allegation was made, He was arrested in September bailed till December which has thus been extended to March 2017 I just see what an unjust system it is,(and am determined to change this!).I was concerned about the arrest issue thinking they must have "evidence", but no in historical cases the police abide by the wishes of the so called "Victim"
My husband is spending a few days with relatives back tomorrow he does not know I have signed to this site. Honestly at my wits end with it all.If I can will get him to sign up. I think he would really appreciate your and others moral support xx

[Silver]

Don't worry about what the solicitor said about a barrister. Many of them work together long term so it was probably intended as reassurance that there didn't need to be a search for one and not a comment on your personal situation.

Thanks for that reassurance Franticwithworry,

Was not to sure how to take the comment, we have never been in trouble with the law,so all language/interpretation seems to be different compared with our professional careers!

[Franticwithworry]

The word/statement of the complainant is 'evidence' and sometimes all they have when going to trial.

While its true that the prosecution is supposed to prove guilt 'beyond reasonable doubt' and the accused is 'innocent until proven guilty', in sexual cases this has been eroded and in any event its still encumbent on the accused to refute any prosecution evidence. Its hard if not impossible to prove a negative, I know, but its often possible to demonstrate that an accusation wasn't possible - a fine but important distinction.

[Silver]

The word/statement of the complainant is 'evidence' and sometimes all they have when going to trial.

While its true that the prosecution is supposed to prove guilt 'beyond reasonable doubt' and the accused is 'innocent until proven guilty', in sexual cases this has been eroded and in any event its still encumbent on the accused to refute any prosecution evidence. Its hard if not impossible to prove a negative, I know, but its often possible to demonstrate that an accusation wasn't possible - a fine but important distinction.

Yes I think this is why so many of these cases are going to court because its impossible to prove negative ie their word against his), unless there is over whelming proof that the defendant had no involvement.
.
As in the case of my husband who can certainly demonstrate that the "accusation" was impossible as he had lost all contact with them, on the years the alleged offences were meant to have taken place

Thanks for that Franticwithworry,

Its a very interesting way of looking at it.
Hopefully with in this forum we may be able to change things.
Am all for the criminal to see justice, but it seems 3/4 of England citizens have been historically sexually abused sometime in their lives.which surely cannot be true?
Also I would like to see an end to the compensation culture for this type of claim, in other countries they have dropped the incentive and have seen a 70%decline in claimant's!

[anon2011]

pointers

Yes I think this is why so many of these cases are going to court because its impossible to prove negative ie their word against his), unless there is over whelming proof that the defendant had no involvement.
.
As in the case of my husband who can certainly demonstrate that the "accusation" was impossible as he had lost all contact with them, on the years the alleged offences were meant to have taken place

Thanks for that Franticwithworry,

Its a very interesting way of looking at it.
Hopefully with in this forum we may be able to change things.
Am all for the criminal to see justice, but it seems 3/4 of England citizens have been historically sexually abused sometime in their lives.which surely cannot be true?
Also I would like to see an end to the compensation culture for this type of claim, in other countries they have dropped the incentive and have seen a 70%decline in claimant's!

all i can say is collect as much information and detail "in writing" as you can. have friends and anyone who can verify that you were nowhere near the address in question at the time. i would advise that you look at old bank statements for cash machine withdrawals or anything that can prove you were in a different county on the day in question. Facebook is also a good thing if you can trawl that far back. as your defence team to track your accusers account and see if anything was written on the day the event was supposed to happen to present day. it can prove a lot about behavior. undermine the cps's case before they even start but only share this information with your own defence team. the police and cps only care about a conviction as it makes them look better and sod the rest of us. my thoughts are with you and your family at this time...

above all stay strong. you know the truth and don't let anyone pull you down.

[Silver]

all i can say is collect as much information and detail "in writing" as you can. have friends and anyone who can verify that you were nowhere near the address in question at the time. i would advise that you look at old bank statements for cash machine withdrawals or anything that can prove you were in a different county on the day in question. Facebook is also a good thing if you can trawl that far back. as your defence team to track your accusers account and see if anything was written on the day the event was supposed to happen to present day. it can prove a lot about behavior. undermine the cps's case before they even start but only share this information with your own defence team. the police and cps only care about a conviction as it makes them look better and sod the rest of us. my thoughts are with you and your family at this time...

above all stay strong. you know the truth and don't let anyone pull you down.

Thanks anon.
Unfortunately it was pre FB or internet,hubby is getting proof of where he worked/lived at time,300 miles from where the accuser claimed he was
The whole system is arahaic,as I mentioned in another thread.
Its like the 17th century justice system, if a person says you are a which then everyone else will agree scenario. Its not the 21st democratic Uk, the police should gain paper work evidence looking at the accusers medical notes and social reports and forming an opinion as to how valued the evidence is, not just listen to some fabricated story, based on revenge, before they arrest the innocent with no previous convictions .

[mickw]

I would echo others remarks about any evidence you produce, keep it to yourself and your legal team. On no account give it to the Police.In my own case the prosecution even tried to alter the complainants evidence in court, they tried to alter dates to fit time scales. Fortunately for me my Military records put me in another country at the time of the alleged incident.
We all know what a horrific time it is for you so come back even if just for some comfort.

Mick

[Silver]

I would echo others remarks about any evidence you produce, keep it to yourself and your legal team. On no account give it to the Police.In my own case the prosecution even tried to alter the complainants evidence in court, they tried to alter dates to fit time scales. Fortunately for me my Military records put me in another country at the time of the alleged incident.
We all know what a horrific time it is for you so come back even if just for some comfort.

Mick

Thanks for advise Mick.
Why on earth did they bring your case to court? They should do their ground work first, guess they must have felt embarrassed when they realised they had the dates wrong...Goodness knows how much a court cases cost all wasting tax payers money,that could have been spent on arresting real criminals
I just find this forum a massive help,ranging from advise to just knowing that others are going through similar.

[mickw]

Hi Silver, you would be horrified at the conduct of some OICs. They are out to get a conviction no matter who's life they destroy.
My own story is at this link. http://www.daftmoo.org.uk/mooforum/s...ght=#post67420

Mick

[Silver]

Clarifcation on term used please.

Hi everyone,

Just appreciate your clarification on the term used. So my oh is on his third bail, he has received a letter from his solicitor informing him:

" You have been rebailed for the Prosecuting Lawyers to consider the evidence the police have prepared for the case."

am unsure of this term, does it mean the case has been sent to the CPS ?

[Rights Fighter]

that is what it means, yes

[Silver]

Hi Rights Fighter,
Thanks for your clarification. Do you know if nearly all these cases of "alleged" historical sexual abuse are referred too the CPS?..(Its just soo confusing as I read a while ago that only around 26% are, and then other articles say nearly all of them are!)