#SexOffender #ChildSafety #OnlineSecurity #ParentingTips
🚨 Is it really safe to let a registered sex offender set up your kids’ tablets? 🚨
If you’re like most parents, the safety and security of your children is your number one priority. So when you find out that a registered sex offender has been involved in setting up your kids’ tablets, it’s natural to feel concerned and unsure of what to do next. Here’s what you need to know and what steps you can take to ensure your children’s safety and online security.
## The Situation
A registered sex offender was asked by my ex, who he is dating, to set up both of my children’s new android devices. He created their emails, created their passwords, and used his phone number as two-factor authentication. This raises serious red flags and raises the question, “Is this a problem?”
### Is it a Problem?
Absolutely. Regardless of the sex offender’s relationship with your ex-wife or his physical presence around your children, allowing him to have access to your children’s personal devices and sensitive information is a serious concern. Not only is it risky for your children’s online safety, but it could also potentially violate probation laws in Virginia.
## What to Do Next
As a concerned parent in Virginia, there are several steps you can take to address this situation and ensure the safety and security of your children:
1. Stay Calm and Gather Information
– Take a deep breath and try to stay calm. Gather as much information as you can about the sex offender’s involvement in setting up your kids’ tablets, including dates, times, and communication with your ex-wife.
2. Contact Law Enforcement
– Report the situation to the local authorities and discuss the involvement of a registered sex offender in setting up your children’s devices. They can provide guidance on the legal implications and potential violations.
3. Document Everything
– Keep detailed records of all communication and interactions related to this incident. This includes emails, text messages, phone calls, and any other relevant information.
4. Seek Legal Advice
– Consult with a family law attorney who can provide expert guidance on how to protect your children’s best interests and address any potential legal issues surrounding this situation.
5. Secure Your Children’s Devices
– Change all passwords and security settings on your children’s tablets to ensure that the sex offender no longer has access to their personal information.
6. Talk to Your Children
– Have an open and honest conversation with your children about online safety and the importance of never sharing personal information with strangers or people they don’t know well.
## Legal Implications
In Virginia, laws regarding the involvement of registered sex offenders in activities related to minors are taken very seriously. It is essential to understand the potential legal implications and how to protect your children from any possible harm:
– Probation Violation
– Allowing a registered sex offender to have access to minors’ personal devices and information could potentially violate the terms of their probation. This is a serious matter that should be reported to law enforcement.
– Online Protection Laws
– Virginia has strict laws in place to protect minors from online predators and individuals with a history of sexual offenses. It is important to ensure that all legal measures are taken to address this situation and protect your children’s safety.
– Child Custody and Visitation
– This incident may also have implications for child custody and visitation arrangements. Consulting with a family law attorney can provide guidance on how to address this situation within the context of your custody agreement.
In conclusion, the involvement of a registered sex offender in setting up your children’s tablets is indeed a significant problem and raises serious concerns about online safety and potential legal violations. Taking proactive steps to address this situation, including seeking legal advice and securing your children’s devices, is essential to ensure their safety and well-being. Remember, as a parent, you have the right and responsibility to protect your children from any potential harm, both online and offline. Don’t hesitate to take the necessary steps to address this concerning situation and keep your children safe.
Get them new devices (or factory reset the existing ones) and new email addresses, and talk to your attorney about this person’s access to your children.
As a parent, you can make decisions about what devices your children use when in your care.
Depending on your court ordered custody and parenting agreement, you may or may not have a say in what devices to use when they are with their other parent.
Whether or not this sex offender can be with your children and use electronic devices depends on the terms of their probation/parole. It may or may not be a violation.
Not a lawyer, but in criminal justice.
Every state has different laws and parameters for sex offenders. Is he on probation at this time? If so, his conditions most probably state he shouldn’t be around kids. You can call your local probation department and they should point you in the right direction. The department may also have an advocate that can assist.
>This is a problem, right?
Remember you came here for legal advice. It is unlikely that anything illegal has occurred in the situation you’ve described.
Something to keep in is that sex offenders still have rights and it is very unlikely that conditions of parole would be to have almost no contact with minors. In terms of access to a device, email address, etc, it would most likely explicitly be in the terms of parole.
>I am in Virginia what should I do?
You’ve gotten the best advice, which involves a master reset/factory reset for the devices and setting up new user accounts. I would recommend discussing this with your Ex before doing this to avoid the possibility of creating a cycle where the device is reset and the original email addresses are used to sign in again, and again, and again.
If your custody agreement doesn’t govern things like access to digital devices, etc, you might actually need to address this as a co-parenting effort where you discuss your concerns and propose an alternative that addresses your concerns.
Definitely a problem, but nothing a factory reset and a couple new Gmail accounts won’t fix.
The first thing you need to do is look him up on the registry to find out *what* exactly he did to end up on that list. Then act from there. Unless you find out what you’re up against you will not be able to counteract the current situation. Under no circumstances are you allowed to “harass” anyone due to their presence on the registry (Because this can prevent it from being available to the public later on… definitely don’t want that). So once you find out, it would be better to just keep that information to yourself until you act, however it may be.
If he was placed on that list due to peeing behind a bush, you then know that it wasn’t anything apparently malicious. If however he is like 95% of the “people” on that list, there may be terms under his probation that will get him into serious trouble. Best of luck!
Taking the contrary view here. You need to set up an email and password for an account especially for a 1st time user. If he voluntarily told your ex-wife the passwords, its a simple matter for you to just login and change the passwords and mobile authentication number yourself.
Once you have changed the passwords, he no longer has access.
It would be very much different if your ex-wife refused to handover the account details. In which case, reset both devices as has been suggested by other users.
Have them reset to factory settings.
Reset their phones immediately. He will have complete access to everything on their phones.
His phone numember a 2FA whereas he has no parental rights upon them ? I am pretry sure it is a violation of the ToS of the mail provider.
Recreate email adresses by yourself.
Warn your ex that having a sex offender near your children is not an option and write it.
Casually exchange with your children to see if they have had any contact with him.
And ask officially to your ex the destruction of these email adressess he created.
Do you know what the conviction is for? Virginia applies that charge for things like being caught having intercourse in a vehicle at night (technically indecent exposure), or forgetting to pull the blinds and the neighbor complains. Or if they have any previous charges, public urination (for example in a dark alley behind a bar, after closing). This isn’t the type of “sex offender” that people are actually worried about, but a wrong place, wrong time offense that gives the local DA an excuse for a charge. Before throwing the guy or your ex under the bus, it’s worth asking the question. Your ex might know the charge is bs. The distinction matters.
Is this man on probation? He may have a condition ordered by the court that he cannot have unmonitored access to the internet. I’d call your local probation/parole office and ask them. Do you know his name?
Chanfe the emails and pass code so that only you and your ex have access to it. Their is no reason that any bf or gf should have access to the device’s.
Being an RSO does not make it more or less safe for kids. There are Sex Offenders who have not been caught then on the registry.