Horrible situation

[Jamily]

Hi everyone

Just a word of caution to all your mamas out there.....for my Mums Group meetings we tend to take rugs and sit outside under the trees by the harbour (I live in Manly). At our latest meeting we noticed an old man taking pictures of us and our babies (bubs are 9 months old) - he had his camera on one of the picnic tables, pointing at us and he would press the button when he thought no one was watching. One of the girls in our group realised what he was doing and when we all turned around to see what was going on he literally couldn't get away fast enough. A few minutes later another old man came by and one of the girls in our group noticed he had a slim camera about the size of a cigarette packet. As he walked past he was taking pics - again pretending that he wasn't. He got into a car near by and sped off. We don't have a problem with people taking piccies of us all (you wouldn't believe the amount of tourists who stop and ask if they can) but when its done in a suspicious and covert way then that is not cool :thumbsdown:

It seems that the 2 men were working together and I dread to think what they want with the pics.

Fortunately one of the girls in my group had her camera and managed to get pics of the mens faces and the registration of the car.

Just wanted to share this to hopefully make everyone a little bit more aware esp if you live in this area and in case these men are doing this kind of thing on a regular basis.

Claire

[bronny-jane]

how freaky. good thing your mate had a camera, im so weary of this stuff. i live in a small town but have noticed this old guy lately, who just stops and stares at me, waits by my car. so creepy, i dont want to be rude just in case he has 2 lazy eyes:laughing: .

this might sound bad but i hope they were after snaps of you ladies and not the kids:mad:

[busylizzy]

That is so sick. I can't believe that their are people like that out there in the world. When I heard about people wanting to ban photos being taken of children in public (ie Southbank, school carnivals, beaches etc) I thought it was crazy & an over-reaction. But I guess with advances in technology people are doing sick things & we may have to move with the times. It is such a shame that people like this can ruin it for everyone else.
I heard another example of a perverted old man who was standing near the showers at the local beach watching the little naked kids being washed off by their parents:eek:. My DH's friend noticed that he was there for ages & realised what he was doing & approached him & told him off & the old man took off. What a dirty, disgusting old man!!! I would just like to know what goes through their sick perverted minds:banghead: !!!
Liz.

P.S. Bronny-jane - this may sound rude to some people - but isn't it better to be rude (to this old guy waiting for you) than be hurt...or worse:eek:. In a situation like that I wouldn't be wanting to be polite, I would just want him to go away. Better to be safe than sorry. But maybe I'm just paranoid from growing up in the big smoke.

[bronny-jane]

oh im not scared of him, he gets around in one of the buggy things, if he tried anything i'd kick him in the head:D . but i have noticed him doing it to alot of women:eek:

[kuz78au]

OMG, that's just terrible. I'm glad you got a photo of the men and the rego. Have you told the police about it?

I was telling my hubby and he said if he was there he would smash their camera's and/or smash their faces in. But what's the bet the old men wouldn't have dared take photo's if there was a man with you guys?

Thanks for the warning....let's hope like the girls said that they are after photo's of the ladies only. Not that it's acceptable behaviour at all even for that.

[Elfin]

It is very scarey. You have to be aware of who is around in public places as these seem to be a magnet for creeps. I am always aware of other people and what they are doing.

I saw this man photographing children at Southbank one day and I am sure he took a photo of a naked little boy swimming. DH was so mad he went to approach him and he took off, so these perverts are around. I really regret not reporting this to the Police as not long after that some fairly nasty incidents took place there. So make sure you report these guys. It is times like this you wish you had a baseball bat handy:mad:

[Frazzled]

Is that where you guys regularly meet? Maybe you should notify the police so they can check it out as it is an illegal offence... And who know what they are doing with your photos??? ewww

[becca74]

Part of the social anxiety that I see my psycologist for is in regards to being to scared to take my kids out for fear of perverts trying to snatch them/hurt them (God Forbid!!)...

What freaks me out is the statistic of 1 in 3 kids is a victim to these men....doesnt that say that there must be a hell of alot of men out there who are like this? With stats like that, there must be at least 2-3 perverts in every street of every town!!! :barf:

Sorry, this is one of my big paranoias in life :( !!

[Jaileth]

Claire, what a horrible experience for you all. It honestly saddens me to think about people like that - but, having talked to many people about it, I believe it is more common than anyone thinks it is. I hope that your friend reports it to the police.

Good luck with it - and as bad that experience was, don't stop going out - it's just now you and all the other mothers in your group, and the ones you've told on here, will be much more wary. I know I will.

[Briannabear]

Oh yuck. How horrible. That made my skin crawl while reading your post. :mad:

[rainbowbeetle]

holy moly, thats awful!

i hope you've reported it to the police....

[Jamily]

Just a quick update .... we spoke to the police who said there wasn't anything they could do as a crime had not actually been committed, however they will do a few extra patrols in the area. They said its so common its not funny, esp round Manly where there are lots of kiddies running naked on the beach etc. Its just horrible.

One interesting thing though is that they said they often know who the culprits are. I am not sure if that is a good or bad thing?

Claire x