Investigations at School/College
Sexual offending between youths is ever increasing, whether it be sexting, sexual experimentation, or sharing indecent images of themselves with others, or of others to their friendship groups. These cases can be extremely sensitive cases, which cause a lot of distress to the children and their families. Often, despite the police not taking any action in the case, the child's school or college can begin internal investigations, with also Social Services becoming involved.
What the school will do if a student is accused of a sexual offence?
The school are likely to carry out their own internal investigation whether the incident is alleged to have happened on school premises or not and as part of the investigation are likely to speak to all parties involved to get an account from each. This account will be documented and can be provided to external agencies such as Social Services and the police.
How the internal school investigation is conducted is dependent on the schools own misconduct policies and procedures. These policies are usually freely accessible from the school, and must be considered prior to engagement takes place between the accused and the school regarding the allegation.
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How the school may become involved
Sexual allegations may sometimes arise at a child’s school, or be made directly to the school rather than to the police.
If this occurs, the school may report this to the local authority designated officer and social services may initiate an investigation.
The investigations that can be commenced by Social Services include section 17 child in need or a section 47 significant harm investigations. Both would require the involvement of the children and family members.
Such proceeding may also affect other children of the family and disturb the set up within the family home.
If the matter has been reported to the police initially and depending on the age of the child or the seriousness of the offence, the police may consider dealing with the matter by way of a referral to Social Services, which will likely in turn trigger notification of the allegation to the school.
When a child reaches the age of 16 and no longer is full-time education, the police may be unaware of the relevant school or college the child attends or plans to attend.
No one is under any obligation to provide the police with these details if they are requested, but it is always in the interests of the accused to seek legal advice in these circumstances who can assess the situation, allegations objectively and can provide expert advice.
Investigations carried out by the school have a life changing impact on the child. Our lawyers are experienced in representing students throughout misconduct proceedings arising from criminal offence allegations
Can the School Pass Information to the police?
In short the answer to this questions is yes, the school can pass anything said by the accused or any party involved to the police. The school are likely to take a very strict approach due to their safeguarding duty and it is therefore very important that legal advice is obtained before anything is said to the school during the investigation.
Advice to Parents
Parents or guardians of the child may be required to liaise with the school throughout the investigation. It is paramount that the child is protected and therefore, important that parent's understand that they are not obliged to discuss the allegations with the school to enable them to carry out safeguarding procedures. The school and Social Services will be well aware of the impact any discussions could have on a criminal investigation and it is important you do not feel compelled into working with the school as this could affect your child's future and education. Please seek independent legal advice if challenged in respect of this by the school.
How Can Eventum Legal Help?
We work with many families whose children are facing internal investigations being carried out by schools, colleges and universities. The impact can be stressful and cause major disruptions to family life. Most importantly it can take away a child's confidence and right to an education, having a lasting impact way into adulthood.
We are here to relieve that stress and to deal with the investigation begin carried out by the school or college in a fair and just way. Robustly defending the child's legal interests and rights to an education.
Contact our lawyers today for an initial consultation where we can discuss your case or your child's case with you in detail and provide tailored advice to your particular circumstances. We can then map out with you the best approach moving forwards.
