I find this a bit weird. Should I call the police?

Question

I work in a shop. There's this old guy who comes in regularly, so naturally we always get chatting.
He tells me he speaks to women on the phone and they send him pictures of themsleves. He's shown me and it's obvious that they are from chat-lines and stuff but he seems oblivious to it - he seems convinced that they are interested in him.

But this is the weird bit: I asked him today whether there were any women he liked, and he told me he had been speaking to this girl for the last few weeks. He said they were getting quite friendly.
So naturally I asked him old old she was.
His Reply: "Oh, eight, maybe nine,"

!!!!!

He seems really naive with the chatline thing, so could it be the same with this girl?
He certainly doesn't seem the type to be preying on small girls, and surely if he was, he wouldn't tell me so easily in casual conversation, but now I feel uneasy about what he said.

What do you think?

The girl he is speaking to is one he sees in person and is not on a chatline.
He says he waits outside her school to speak to her and yes, she is about eight years old.
He says she is a friend of his niece, but the way he talks about her isn't right - he talks about her like someone would about a possible future partner.

Rickolish and < Halloween Munchies > I can assure you it is not a wind-up.
Why would I post such a question?

I spoke to my boss about it and he called the police. The funny thing was that they came to the shop while the guy was there and they spoke to him.
He was pretty eager to talk about her, that he goes to the school and he knows her though his niece. He seemed totally oblivious to why they were asking him questions.
It was obvious to all of us that he thinks of her fondly.

The police reckoned he is a bit simple but said they would contact the school to keep an eye on the girl and speak to the girl's parents to work out the relationship between the two.
They have his details so hopefully everything will be ok.

It's better to be safe than sorry, and a weight has been lifted from my mind. Thanks for all your answers.

Answer 1

I would contact the police and make them aware of the situation. You never know, the guy could just be a little nutty and not really know what he's talking about, but could think that this type of thing is ok. The police will contact him, you will remain anonymous and you may save the life of an innocent child.

Answer 2

A few things spring to mind...

He sounds a bit mentally ill, evidenced by his delusion about the chat up line people. Could this be true? Does he have a mental age of 9?

Did you hear him correctly, did he hear you correctly? Ask him to confirm, or get more details. You could also tell him your concerns - he might have been joking about his niece/granddaughter etc and freaked you out.

Probably never can tell the type...although most abuse is carried out by someone known to the victim.

If you are still concerned after further talks call the police...

In light of your additional info, I would tell the school and the police. This is clearly wrong - waiting at the school gates to talk to an 8 year old girl!!! The guy is off his nut and needs professional attention (be it mental or criminal). Also he does know her (see point above) through her niece, and she knows him, so I would say she is in danger. I don't like all the pedo scaremongering that goes on but this sounds real. Do something about it.

However, I also feel you are winding us up. In which case, stoppit.

Answer 3

I really doubt there is an 8 or 9 year old girl on a chat line. It has to be some older woman who is saying that she is 8 or 9 and yanking his chain.

Think about it for a minute ... wouldn't you notice if your kid was on some chat line? And even if it were a real little kid, its not against the law to talk to one. Somehow I just don't think some little kid is spending hours on the phone with some old guy and no one happens to notice.

And as far as the adult chat lines, they don't hire little kids to work the lines.

You don't have the slightest shred of proof that anything wrong is going on, just general mass hysteria and a whole lot of assumptions. Stay out of it.

Answer 4

Blimey, for sure you wanna report this, how would you feel if something bad happened and you could have stopped it?

If you don't wanna contact the police then call Crime stoppers, you can stay anonymous but still get the complaint made, this isn't worth deliberating over, you know it sounds bad because it is bad! report it = )

I cannot believe all the people saying, give him the benefit of the doubt, I'm not saying he's guilty of anything but what he said is weird so tell someone so they can look into it.

Answer 5

You are playing the devils advocate here. You should ignore him and not encourage or pursue this type of conversation any further. He thinks he has found a captive audience...no the innocent he makes out believe me.

However, make a mental note of what he has said and try and find out his name so that if he persists with this type of conversation go round to the cop shop and tell them.

Your boss may not take too kindly to you encouraging this type of conversation with a customer...so take heed and don't. You could lose your job!


With the additional information.....why are you hesitating. Contact the polise...even if it turns out to be timewasting...you will have done the right thing by talking to them.

PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Do you know what I think you are winding us all up!

Answer 6

If he seems naive about the chatline thing and seems oblivious to the fact its perverted to fancy a 8 yr old, maybe hes mentally challenged in some way? u never know. Continue to ask him questions if he continues to sound perverted, don't hesitate in calling the police. Don't risk it.

Answer 7

I would ask him some more questions about it, maybe ask him again how old his female friend is he is chatting with. It may have been a joke (not a good one, but still). You might mention to him, that if he is chatting with someone under 18 he can go to jail for it, that he needs to be careful. But if the person does turn out to be a child, you might should get the lay involved, to protect the kids.

Answer 8

You should not go to the police right away. He might have been misinformed, since there are a lot of undercover police on the internet pretending to be a prey for predators. He might be just kidding about it. But unless he showed you a picture of that little girl, you need to report it.

But its one thing not to believe everything you hear.

Answer 9

You should ask him again just to be clear, then if that is the case tell the police anonymously about this inappropriate conduct. There is no question that this kind of behavior is unacceptable and the parents of these children should be warned, as well as the proper authorities.

Answer 10

id report it, how would you feel if you done nothing and something was to happen,if it was one of my kids talking to him,id definitely want something said to the police,it doesn't matter how well you think you no someone,you can never be sure,and he told you 8 or 9 knowing that the police are trying to crack down on people from talking to children on the internet and in the chat rooms,and that didn't stop him from telling you id say there was something wrong somewhere