social work involvement after trail?

[Goodguy]

Hi im jumping ahead abit but with 6 weeks left till my partners trail today were in a rare positive and proactive mood, so i was looking for advice from anyone thats been through the trail part and was found not guilty or anyone who knows how ss work.

5 months after been into the police station for questionning my partner recieved the call from ss to say he couldnt have his kids that weekend and was now not allowed to see them unsupervised till they had done a risk assessment. he accepted this and knew they had a job to do, however stupidly agreed to his exs suggestion that they didnt arrange visits to keep the kids from knowing what was going on and to prevent them from having to have social services etc visiting them. this was because he had been in the childs place as a child and didnt want them to be asked questions about their time with him etc so they agreed to say he was working away and thought it was a matter of weeks till he could see them. 4 months later and 2 cancelled appointments for the risk assessments they said they couldnt do it till the poice investigation was closed. 14 months on and were here with 6 weeks to go.

My partner now wants to know if after the trail he can go see his kids or if he will still have to wait for the risk assessment to be carried out and if ss still do their bits if foundd not guilty or will they just close case.

Also can he ring ss now and ask them to book RA in for after xmas if they do still need to do 1 or does he have to wait till after the trail then have another 3 month wait for that.

He desperatly misses them and has just got the news his ex is trying to get her new partner to adopt them as shes ill, obviously he isnt signing adoption papers for them but if she is as ill as we have been told he needs to be able to be there for his kids and build those bridges with them asap incase anything does happen to her as he doesnt want it where shes too ill to care for them and because of this he cant see them.

he hasnt spoke to ss for a year after they said they needed to wait for police case to close so doesnt know what the process is all he knows is that when or if he walks out of that trail in 6 weeks he wants to go straight there to give them a cuddle and doesnt know if hes allowed.

[Peter1975]

Legally, a not guilty verdict is a jury failing to be convinced by the prosecution case rather than a finding of innocence and it will be irrelevant as far as SS are concerned, their mission is strictly child protection and if they are wont to get involved, it is because they will not want to take chances on your OH's innocence.

I can't remember who has accused your OH or what he was accused of but if it is child sexual abuse I would expect that SS will indeed want to carry out a risk assessment after the trial given their earlier involvement and your OH should be prepared to have to be supervised sadly, this will either be in a contact centre or with someone deemed suitable to safeguard such as his ex, grandparents or yourself.

If family members are to be deemed fit to supervise contact then is very important that they do not protest your OH's innocence to the social workers. Sex offenders can be manipulative and their partners/mothers/family are often the last to know. SS are very alert to this so any risk must be seen to be taken seriously. They will want to be assured that whoever is supervising has the children's best interests as a priority and that they are not just capable, but willing to spot warning signs of abuse.

As for moving past supervised contact, I'm afraid there will be hoops to jump through to achieve this, SS will undoubtedly wish to talk to the children and it may be a slow process. I would advise that he gets a good family law solicitor if SS become difficult or do not carry out their duties properly but there is no legal aid for this unfortunately.

As far as visiting the children straight after the trial, I do not see a major problem with this but he will need to first speak to his ex and clarify what SS have told her. It would seem that they are happy enough for some supervised contact so I wouldn't have thought a visit would cause any issues as long as he is not left alone with the children.

[slowdown73]

I previously worked as a social worker with children. My understanding is SS may still wish to carry out further assessments even in the event of a not guilty verdict. They may also request information from the court and police about evidence and this could still be used against your partner. It will all depend on context and whether SS feel there is any risk. Remember, a not guilty verdict could be seen as there is a lack of evidence to convict and not that the person didn’t do the crime. It’s a horribly unfair system and that’s one of the many reasons why I’ve left the profession. Wait until the outcome and then seek legal advice is my best advice.