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Bogus Social Workers Strike Again

They're real, I told you they were real!


http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,1271,-2076121,00.html

Bogus social workers examined boy
Ananova
Wednesday October 9, 2002 3:52 PM
Police are hunting three bogus social workers who carried out an examination of a boy at his home after telling his mother a complaint of sexual abuse had been made to them.
The two women, one dressed as a nurse, and a man called on the mother and her two-year-old son on a housing estate in the village of Berinsfield, near Abingdon, Oxfordshire.
Detectives believe the group targeted the mother and her son in a carefully-planned operation.
They spent about an hour with them and the "stunned" mother was present throughout the examination of her child.
Det Con Chris Hand says she had been convinced they were genuine social services officials when they presented fake identity cards.
He added: "She was clearly concerned that such an allegation had been made and thought they were proper and correct officials."
A Thames Valley Police spokeswoman said: "They claimed falsely that a complaint of sexual abuse had been made. The child's mother let them into the house where they carried out an examination of the child."
Detectives are warning local mothers to be on their guard against people posing as social workers.
Detective Sergeant Angus Palmer said: "If anyone comes to your door claiming to be social workers, please make sure that you check their identity thoroughly. If you think they are suspicious please do not hesitate to contact the police immediately."
The woman posing as a nurse was wearing a dark blue nurse's uniform with a belt and a watch hanging from her breast pocket.
The bogus nurse, who was aged about 30 and was wearing black tights and shoes, had arrived at the address on the Berinsfield estate, minutes after her accomplices.
They were seen arriving together in a blue Ford Mondeo hatchback. The man was described as stocky, with swept back and spiky dark hair and dressed in a shirt and tie.
He was about 5ft 9 or 10ins, with a dark complexion and in his late 30s or early 40s.
The other woman was about the same age, 6ft, with silver framed spectacles and was wearing a blue blouse and black formal trousers.
 
I've always wondered what the motivation must be. In this case we apparently have two women and a man. How did the three of them come up with this scheme, and why would they do it? Is it a sexual thing? A power thing? Very baffling. :confused:

Perhaps the women were actually men in drag. :confused:
 
The six footer sounds a bit suspect.
There's a whole world of human psychology out there I just cannot get a handle on, which upsets me.
 
Years ago, when I was a teenager, my best friend went off with a boyfriend for a bit of rough and tumble in our school grounds. It was Friday night, the grounds were deserted and they went to a secluded spot for a kiss.
A man appeared, showed them Police ID and claimed that he was about to arrest them for indecent exposure/indecency etc. He dismissed the boy, who at 16 probably had little idea of gallantry. The boy made his way through the schoolgrounds to go home.
The fake Policeman proceeded to assault my friend. Her screams alerted the boy and also, bizarrely, my mother, who was in the ladies toilet of a nearby public house.
Once people reached my friend, the man had fled.
Despite a big police investigation and local publicity, the bogus officer was never found. My friend took some time to get her confidence back but I suppose it didn't help that her assailant was never caught.
The police questioned her and her boyfriend at length, and whilst I don't doubt the police' professional manner and sincerity, I got the kind of feeling that they were more concerned that someone was going around with fake police ID. Then again, such ID could lead to all kinds of crimes.:(
 
Bogus Social workers are a very odd phenomenon (which, incidentally started in good old Sheffield, with an incident at Park Hill flats!). Although police involvement doesn't necessarily rule out moral panic, the seriousness and often mundanity of the reportage suggests this is very much for real.

Although some BSW's sexually assault children, often they do not. In one case BSW's took a child away, only to return him later, after taking him round the park all afternoon and buying him an ice cream.

They seem to be a ring of women, often seen being driven around by a man in the ubiquitous white van, who universally never get caught by police.

Jenny Randles and Peter Hough equate BSW's with MIB's [1995, Encyclopaedia of the Unexplained, Brockhampton Press, London, pp175-179]. In fact one account tells of a BSW trying to take a child claiming they had to be taken into care for eating a jam sandwich at the wrong time of day. Surreal, almost Lynchian, details like this are very reminiscent of MIB cases.

So who knows? The rack of police files about this suggests its true, but the uncatchable nature of the BSW's suggests an UL. If they are real, why such an organised gang, and why can they never be caught when acting so brazenly?
 

They seem to be a ring of women, often seen being driven around by a man in the ubiquitous white van, who universally never get caught by police.

Jenny Randles and Peter Hough equate BSW's with MIB's [1995, Encyclopaedia of the Unexplained, Brockhampton Press, London, pp175-179]. In fact one account tells of a BSW trying to take a child claiming they had to be taken into care for eating a jam sandwich at the wrong time of day. Surreal, almost Lynchian, details like this are very reminiscent of MIB cases.

So who knows? The rack of police files about this suggests its true, but the uncatchable nature of the BSW's suggests an UL. If they are real, why such an organised gang, and why can they never be caught when acting so brazenly?


I had never heard of this type of thing until a few years ago. At first I assumed it was a basic UL type of "social panic" etc. but some of the reports are so bizarre, like the story above, that it does seemed to be very similar to the MIB "phenomenon". And why does it almost always include one or more women? And why does it seem to be centered mainly in the UK and not US or other countries also? Very strange.....

sureshot
 
In the Lords

Came across this reference from a debate in the House of Lords back in 2000.

http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm199900/cmstand/g/st000622/pm/00622s06.htm


Mr. Hutton: That argument is interesting. I wonder what the justification for it might be. We must be clear about the exercise of reserving job titles. We are associating a criminal sanction with the use of the term "social worker" for people not properly registered with the General Social Care Council. The step is an important one for Parliament to take. We are invoking the full weight of the criminal law on those who want to misrepresent themselves as professionally qualified social workers. We must do that carefully, having studied the arguments and the way in which the profession has developed around a recognisable core of professional qualifications. We can then take the step that we recommend to the Committee and to the House to preserve properly that job title.

Mr. Shaw: Does my hon. Friend agree that it is important to preserve the title, not least because of the bogus social workers who knock at people's doors? I have had experience of that. For parents, having someone knock at the door, ask the child to remove their clothes and check for bruising when that person has no grounds for being there causes considerable distress, especially when the family is involved with social services. The full weight of the law should bear on people who take part in such activities. We should do all that we can to send a clear message that the offence is extremely serious.

Mr. Hutton: My hon. Friend makes an important point; I am glad that he has reminded the Committee of that practice. We know about that--all hon. Members will know of such cases. Sometimes, those cases have resulted in terrible consequences. Obviously, an exercise in preserving a job title will not stop the activity--we cannot do that. However, it can attract a penalty for those who choose to abuse the job title.
.
.
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Mr. Hutton: It may act as deterrent, but not for that particular practice. People who say that they are social care workers when they are not would attract a penalty. However, if we take the step of protecting job title and make it a criminal offence to abuse a job title, we must have a specifically identifiable group of workers who have developed a core professional range of qualifications and experience that the public identify as important and for which it is worth preserving the title.


3.45 pm

Mr. Hammond: My hon. Friend the Member for Meriden is envisaging social care workers as an identifiable and registered group under the Bill. However, I have a practical issue to raise. The hon. Member for Chatham and Aylesford (Mr. Shaw) described the dangers of impersonating social workers. We are dealing with vulnerable people. Does the Minister agree that there is a lot of scope for confusion in their minds about whether someone is a social worker or social care worker? A person who knocks on the door and says, "I'm the social care worker and I've come to look at you" when he is not a social care worker, will not be guilty of a criminal offence, but a bogus social worker who knocks on the door and says, "I'm the social worker and I've come to look at you". will be guilty of a criminal offence. That distinction might not be easily understood by the ordinary person.


Does this mean that Bogus Social Workers really exist? (Or at least the government of the day believed that they did.)
 
Having just watched "Lilo and Stitch" it would seem that .....................................

Do not read if you have not seen it and care about the wandering plot...............




some social workers are MIB's!!!
 
What I thought was sinister about this case was they obviously knew some details about the child - its proper surname (which was different to the mother's) and its age and stuff. Makes you wonder where they got the info. :( Certainly was a weird thing, and very creepy.
 
The BSW phenomenon has often been mentioned on here and
I have tended to believe there really are such things, despite others
interestingly pointing out their similarity to other mythical archetypes.

I don't think any have ever been caught, though. I hope this
might be a first. :confused:
 
The Sunday Times recently claimed possession of an extensive list of paedophiles under police investigation. Among them were quite a few company directors and civil servants. I suppose the point I'm trying to make is that these paedophile rings (if that's what they are) are extremely highly organised. What amazes me is how they expect to carry out "home visits" like this one and get away with it.:confused:
 
I was shocked to see it on Crimewatch - usually you feel that BSW are relegated to UL and FOAF so to see the Police actively investigating it heavily implies that not all these things are UL's.
 
More reports (this from the fornt page):

Bogus health visitor 'checks' baby

Police are warning mothers to check the identify of professional visitors after a woman posing as a health worker examined a baby.

The woman tricked her way into the south Wales home of a mother and her 11-week-old boy and carried out a 15-minute "check-up".

She pretended to study the infant's eyes, ears and legs and even had a discussion with his mother about her childcare arrangements for going back to work.

The mother only realised the woman was a fake when she mentioned the episode, which happened on Monday, to her genuine health visitor.

Detectives said people in the Caldicot area should be on their guard in case the women decides to approach another family.

Be vigilant as to who you let in the house
Detective Inspector Mike Jones

The bogus health worker is described as white, about 30 years old with long, brown hair and was wearing navy trousers, a navy top and a jacket, which had an identity badge on it.

Gwent Police Detective Inspector Mike Jones said: "She picked the child up, looked into his eyes and ears and felt his legs before she said something like, 'it's dozing off'."

Mr Jones said the area's local health board had no-one on its team who matched the description of the woman.

He added that health visitors would normally be known to a family and would not turn up unannounced.

He said: "Be vigilant as to who you let in the house.

"If you are in any way suspicious of who is calling at the door, ring 999."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/wales/3487685.stm

Published: 2004/02/14 12:24:55 GMT

© BBC MMIV
 
Excellent find, Emps. Nice to see some fresh Forteana for a change.
Did anyone catch the letter in FT some years ago suggesting that BSWs were in fact part of some church-sponsored group chartered with finding the anti-Christ? Apparently the anti-Christ is supposed to have hermaphrodite qualities, and BSWs were on the lookout for this and other telltale signs....:p
 
I tried to post this earlier when the board seemed to be having a few problems - so apologies if it appeared twice.

Could it be that some of the bsws are enterprising/unscrupulous private detectives who are checking up on children who are possibly going to be the subject of custody or access disputes, on behalf of estranged parents/grandparents ? Few details of the socio-economic or family circumstances of the victims are given in the reports, but the very fact that the bsws are admitted into the house without cries of "what the heck is this all about - I'm ringing my lawyer/my friend the Chief Constable/my husband the doctor/my sister the Health Visitor" makes me think that the families afflicted are not, in some (but not all) cases, strangers to unannounced visits from social services, for whatever reason.
 
An interesting theory, Marianina, but I tend to think the victims are targetted
by bsw who feel they are vulnerable to authority-figures. Isolated single
mothers, barely coping, may be easily bullied into admitting these people and
then very reluctant to report their suspicions. I think the pattern is that
several victims come forward after each report, when the trail has gone cold.

Still, so far as I know, no one has actually been convicted of a bsw-type
offence. :confused:
 
you can imagine me and my bros horror when we were watching the local news one day in the early 90s and a photofit of a supposed bogus social worker appeared. It was exactly (down to the descripion of the distinctive accent) the same as our mum! Needless to say she has never faked being a social worker and would not have had the time to do so, but it did not half freak us out!
 
Several things about BSWs remind me of Indrid Cold and his black-clad buddies.

Like the fact they don't quite act like normal people would... see the jam sandwich example I gave above and the fact the BSW said 'it's dozing off' not 'he's dozing off' (if that's what they actually said).

And of course the fact they're never caught, they're suspected kiddie fiddlers, considered probably the most heinous crime in our society, travel around in broad daylight, must leave fingerprints and all that, and have distinctive vehicles which must have registration plates, and still no convictions are ever made.

It would be tempting to call it a UL, but reporting and investigation of it always so down-to-earth with police investigating real people with real cases. Plus the fact while many cases seem like they may be sexually-motivated, many seem like they have no sexual motive at all (unless they're "casing the joint" for future crimes).

It's all a bit baffling. I do like the anti-christ theory though!
 
Bogus social worker - baby abduction

BBC news, Phantom Baby Caller/Kidnapper: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/5219356.stm

Has anyone noticed the phenomena of the bogus social workers who try to abduct babies? The stories are suspiciously the similar.

A female social or health care worker gains entry to a mothers home, examines the baby for a while then makes for the door with baby. At this point, the mother begins to think that something’s up and asks for ID, whereupon the attempted baby abductor leaves without baby. The bogus social worker is nearly always female, is sometimes in disguise and is sometimes accompanied by a male accomplice waiting in a car.

Enter: "abduction worker baby bogus" and variations in BBC’s search page

Either they are the most unsuccessfully baby kidnappers in history (simply ask them for ID and they disappear!) or they don’t exist.

This is a humorous one, where the social worker only examined the baby:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/3487685.stm

I think that this phenomena began with a real cases of baby abduction, when bogus health worker Janet Griffiths took Alex Griffiths (no relation) from St Thomas's Hospital in south London in January 1990. Also, there maybe a relation to postpartum depression.
 
James, I've found that if you open the last link on that thread, it opens another thread, and if you click on the last link on that one, it opens another, and so on ad infinitum. The may be some kind of escherlike cyberspace/time phenonemon at work.
 
I was wondering about the bogus social workers recently. Hadn't seen any reports to speak for a very long time.
 
Not Only in Britain

There was a case from Florida six or eight years ago in which legitimate social workers paid an apparently belated house call to check on the welfare of a young Afro-American girl, only to be informed by the girl's grandmother that the child had been turned over to OTHER "social workers" several months previously.

The grandmother's story couldn't be shaken (even after nationwide publicity), but the child was never subsequently located, so far as I'm aware.
 
That was the Rilya Wilson case. The care giver, Geralyn Graham, was charged with kidnapping and child abuse in 2004. She was charged with Ryla's murder in 2005. No bogus social workers, just lying sociopaths.
 
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