Husband charged with historical offences - Help!

[wheato]

Hi

I am new to this forum but have found reading some of these posts calming as I now feel that I'm not alone.

Back in January my husband was accused of raping and sexually assaulting 3 female cousins, they are saying these offences took place when my husband would of been between 17 & 20 years old, they were all under 16. The allegations are completely false but following a 6 month wait whilst it went to the CPS, he has now been charged.

We have been positive all along, we had documented evidence to show that he did not live in the house where they are saying he lived and where these offences occurred, he was in a relationship with his ex partner at the time of these alleged offences albeit we are unsure what his ex partner might of said as they we not on the best of terms when they parted and he has a son with her that he does not have contact with. One of the accusers has successfully obtained compensation for another sexual abuse claim against her mothers ex partner, she is alleging my husband assaulted her before the mums ex partner did so why did she not raise it at that time? The list is endless.. I just can't believe the CPS have charged him.

Anyhow, I am now very frightened of what the future may hold for us. We have a 1 year old daughter who has been placed on a child protection plan, up until now we have fully co-operated with Children's Services and we had a written agreement in place that stated that my husband would continue to live with us in the family home providing he was fully supervised by me and that he didn't undertake and self-care needs for my daughter. We have took this very seriously and have not breached this, the social worker has been very positive with us but I now fear that he is going to be asked to leave our home, our social worker did say she would fight for this not to happen but it may be beyond her control.

How can we afford the best defence team if we are paying for two properties, how do others approach this situation? we both work full time (although my husband may be suspended and his boss has said he doesn't know if he will be paid yet) I have called the tax credits helpline and they are telling me I can't claim tax credits as it could only be a temporary split. If this is the case then I wont be able to pay for her full time childcare which means I will no longer be able to work and to top all of that off, my husband solicitor has warned us that it will go in the local media. We have lived in our area all of our lives so everyone locally will know who we are and where we live, this makes me afraid to live in my own home and I worry for the safety of all of us. Can it get any worse?

[Rights Fighter]

Ye gods and little fishes. I wish I could be surprised at stories such as this but they keep coming.

Welcome to the world of false allegations.

Hubby may well be expected to contribute to legal aid or pay privately depending on your joint incomes and assets. The world of the CJS no longer gives a fig about families and the repercussions of false allegations.

Have you already instructed a solicitor and if not which area are you in?

There is a thread that contains recommendations (and warnings) relating to solicitors and barristers used by people here.

http://www.daftmoo.org.uk/mooforum/s...ist-solicitors

You might find it rather time consuming reading through them all. However if you can just let us know, for instance:

near Manchester or north west

near London or south east

near Exeter or south west

etc maybe I can help you with a recommendation.

You could contact the solicitor in my signature to clarify how much this could cost - included in the price will be a QC or a fab barrister.


Please keep posting

[wheato]

Thanks for your kind words.

We have just used the duty solicitor so far, I have contacted Stuart Sutton who has been very helpful but Stuart is private and I presume all of the best defence solicitors are private. I'm in the East Midlands, If you have any recommendations? I will also drop Chris Saltrese an email for costs.

We really are in a difficult position as we have only recently bought our house and there will be no real equity if we tried to sell it, I don't have any other assets so it will have to be legal aid or loans.

[WhyUs]

Hi wheato

You have found the right place to come and as you have seen there are many of us in a similar position. Some of the worrys that you have, I have also faced in the quest to clear my husbands name.

Firstly, be careful what you tell the police. Hopefully your solicitor has already advised you, but anything you tell the police in good faith will be used against you. I.e if you say that he didn't live somewhere at the time, they could then put this to the FA and get the dates changed to suit. The police are not intested in finding out the truth, they are only interested in their targets, promotions etc.

With regard to social services, keep working with them. The more you are willing to take on board and do what they say, the more likely you are of keeping the family together. Our family is still together despite my husband being charged, purely because I have taken on board and did / do everything they have said.

With regard to your financial worries, I wish I could give you positive advice, however I know exactly what you are going through. Just take it one step at a time .. don't worry about what may happen, worry about what is happening, we cant change the future. (I know it is easier said than done). There are some very good legal aid solicitors and barristers out there. As RF has said you may have to make a contribution, but this will be based on your income.

Stay strong, your husband and baby need you. Keep posting and I am sure that there will be others along to give their advice as well.

[wheato]

Thank you so much, I felt like we were the only family facing this until I came across this forum. I am sorry to hear that you are facing such an awful time also.

It's only been a couple of days since my husband was charged and I am finding that I just can't sleep and when I do sleep I have nightmares of his photograph being on the front page of the newspaper or petrol being poured through our letterbox, I know it sounds far fetched but these images keep going through my mind, even during the day, I sit a my desk at work desperate to run off and have a good sob in the toilets. I have only told our families and although I want to confide in my friends / colleague, I just can't bring myself to do it yet.

Alongside those thoughts I am dreading my social worker arriving tomorrow, I have done to much googling and I have convinced myself that my daughter will be taken in to care, I think once tomorrow is over and we know where we stand with Children's Services, I may start to feel better and starting thinking methodically.

My husband is really low but I am encouraging him to try and keep going the best he can, he is worried about his job and obviously our daughter and the impending magistrates appearance.

I am in the process of contacting some of the recommended solicitors, so will update in due course. Thanks again for the support.

[WhyUs]

You are bound to feel the way you do. Its an awful thing to have to go through and because of the stigma it's very difficult to talk about. I still have nightmares.. But they are just that... Nightmares and not reality.


To try to put your mind at rest my husband hasn't been mentioned in the media or the internet .. Not even one line. People are getting fed up hearing about historical cases so unless you are a teacher someone of notable standing it is widely reported.

We have only told close friends that we trust and of course our families. I have confided in a couple of people at work, this was so that if I was struggling or just needed time someone knows why. To be honest I am glad I have they have been so supportive to date

Magistrates is a quick appearance. 10 mins max as it will just get passed to crown, although it isn't a nice experience. In the plus you should start to receive some papers from the prosecution which you can start to pull apart.

Please don't Google. As I have found out everything is geared towards the Fa and therefore it is scary reading and will give you the worst thoughts. Just work with Ss and hopefully they will continue to work with you.

Good luck tomorrow. I hope it all goes well x