Paul and Jack were murdered by their abusive father. Why had the family courts granted him contact?

Press/Media: Research

Period1 Oct 2024

Media contributions

1

Media contributions

  • Title Paul and Jack were murdered by their abusive father. Why had the family courts granted him contact?
    Degree of recognitionNational
    Media name/outletGuardian
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
    Date1/10/24
    DescriptionA paper published in August by the Shera research group, examined 10 anonymous family court cases involving allegations of child sexual abuse carried out by the father – including cases where the father had admitted to it, or there was digital or video evidence, and one of child rape that had led to a prison sentence. In all of these cases, the father ultimately won some form of contact with their children, including overnight stays and 50/50 shared residency. One woman, whose ex was given five years on the sex offender register for downloading child sexual abuse images, mainly of girls, including babies and young children, was told by her Cafcass worker: “Well, it’s all right because you’ve got a son.”
    URLhttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/oct/01/paul-and-jack-were-murdered-by-their-abusive-father-why-had-the-family-courts-granted-him-contact
    PersonsElizabeth Dalgarno