Karl Pollard, 46 and his daughter, Stephanie, 14, from Wales, had travelled for four hours to visit his mother, who was due to start cancer treatment. Pollard, a carer for his wife Kim, 45, who has multiple sclerosis, booked a double bedroom after being told it was the only availability. Ten minutes after they checked in, a police officer knocked on their hotel room door.
Mr Pollard told the Daily Star, “A policewoman was standing there. I thought something had happened to my mum or my wife. But she said, ‘We’ve had a call from Travelodge, they believe you are a paedophile grooming underage girls’.”
“I explained to her that I was Stephanie’s dad. The officer had to ask her loads of questions to prove it.”
It was an upsetting experience for the father and daughter, who were separated and then interrogated.
“I couldn’t believe it. It was an emotional trip already but it was made so much worse. One minute I was brushing my teeth, the next I was being told I was a paedophile.”
The police quickly ascertained that there was no illegal activity. But Pollard explained that the shock of the experience has left Stephanie “distraught”.
“My daughter was in tears. She was so scared — and thought I was going to get taken away,” he said.
Travelodge has defended their actions saying their staff had adhered to company policy.
A spokesperson for Travelodge told LADbible: “Our national guidelines are supported by the NSPCC, and have also been approved by the National Working Group on child sexual exploitation.”
“Staff at the Travelodge did the right thing by reporting what they believed to be suspicious activity to officers, although thankfully there was nothing untoward and it turned out to be a misunderstanding.”
Father and daughter Craig and Millie Darwell had a similar experience in Surrey, in March 2017, when the father was also questioned about a stay with his daughter.
Such incidents are reflective of a society that is increasingly becoming aware of the existence of sexual abuse and sex-trafficking, and empowered to do something about it.
Earlier this week, two teenaged girls aged 17 and 15 presented themselves at Sacramento International Airport in California with no identification. They were travelling alone, with only carry-on luggage, but had two first-class tickets booked by another person using a fraudulent credit card. The tickets were one-way and multi-leg, further raising red flags.
American Airlines staff, noting the girls' anxiety, contacted local law enforcement and prohibited the girls to board. Their suspicions were right - Deputy Todd Sanderson spoke to the girls, who informed him that their trip was co-ordinated by “Drey,” whom they had met on Instagram previously.
Drey offered them $US2000 ($2530) to fly to New York for the weekend, where he told them they would model and feature in music videos. The interference by the airline saved the girls from further exploitation and an unknown fate.
While the incident with the Pollards and the Darwells did not amount to a dangerous situation for those girls, at least the message is being made clear that suspicions of sex-trafficking or illegal activity involving minors will be reported by the public, and investigated, because the safety of all children is a priority.
Top Comments
This is something that fathers are just going to have to put up with in order to make sure kids are safe from predators. It's better to be wrong than to let an actual sex trafficker or pedophile get away with a kid.
What about the effect on the children who are staying in the room with their fathers?
Or, what about statistically we should take kids away from their parents every time? They are far more likely to be abused by a parent than a stranger.
Of course, I think you meant to say "parents" as all parents; mother or father, using the logic you imply, should be automatically assumed to be about to commit an illegal act when anyone sees a single adult about to take a child out of public view.
If we are going to protect the children, I am sure you will agree it would be wrong to ignore the many children put at risk when left in the care of only a mother as well as those left only in the care of their father.
Remember, women are statistically more likely to commit violent acts against their children than men.
Guilty until proven innocent hey? Does that apply to everyone or just men?
I spoke with my husband about that, and he said he wouldn’t be offended, he’d be glad people were aware and concerned. As to the impact on the children, as a former police officer he said he’d use it as an opportunity to discuss how police are there to keep us safe and also explain about stranger danger. We also have regular conversations with them about their bodies and consent and personal space and appropriate touching and grooming etc (age appropriate of course). It’s just disappointing that this is all a fact of life these days.