I spotted a man this morning taking photos of the kids at the beach whilst they were doing nippers. I watched him for about 5 mins to see what he was about as he was taking pics of the group my son is in. He wasn't just focusing on one child he was snapping off random shots of both the boys and the girls, all of whom were wearing swimmers. I had never seen him before and he was not interacting with any one child, so I quickly realised he was not a grand parent. He kept checking the pics and smiling.
I was having an internal battle about wether or not to say something because I would feel so bad if I falsely accused someone of doing the wrong thing, but my gut was wrenching and my maternal instinct was telling me something was not right.
I approached another mum who is a cop on maternity leave and she and the age manager approached him immediately. His story was that he was a tourist from Canada and just taking beach photos.
The end result was that a police car was called and his details recorded in case he did it again somewhere else.
Our club policy is that no-one is to take pics of the kids on the beach. I have always hated these rules but now I see why we need them. I'm so angry that we all have to accommodate the lowest possible denominator and also very sad.
I am reminded that as a parent, I have to be on watch ALL the time. Sorry long story, I'm just churned up in the stomach.
You did the right thing. Pedophiles take just regular old pictures of kids just playing doing nothing for web sites. Evevn if it may have been innocent, it's always better to be safe then sorry.
I spotted a man this morning taking photos of the kids at the beach whilst they were doing nippers.
While they were doing what???
Nippers is what we call our young kids who are learning about Surf Life Saving. They are nippers from 5 - 14 years, then they become cadets. As they get older they learn all the skills they need to be able to actively patrol the beach and save lives.
Thanks LaBellaFlor - as a mum of seven that makes me feel reassured as to my actions! We do an activity called "Flags", where the kids lay in a line flat on their stomachs, then they jump up, spin around and have to run to get a flag. He was photographing the boys lying on the sand.
Oh hell, I'll take a chance and falsely accuse, if it is protecting my child and others, so be it. And any person with their head not up their....whatever would appreciate the concern being shown, apologize profusely for being so insensitive and move on down the beach!
I have no problem taking the chance that I will offend someone....I have actually told people "Stop taking photos, please. Those are my children, and you do not need pictures of them".
Taking pictures of just the boys?! I have serious doubts about how innocent those pics. were. We have an outdoor mall here with a big water fountain that shoots straight out of the ground. Parents bring their kids and kids just love playing in it, mine included. It's surrounded by benches that have trellises over each bench. This mall also allows your pets to be walked freely in it. Well there was this guy who had a little dog, & kids love little dogs, who actually was fondling kids in plane view of everyone. NO ONE was taking the time to notice or say anything. I'm sure there was some mothers who got that "intuition" ringing, but didn't say anything. ALL women have that sense that says something is wrong, but we just don't listen to it. We think,"I must be just be silly". Let's go ahead and just be considered silly and make sure our kids are safe. We have to do this together.
Ithiele, I am proud & overjoyed that you were that women who did say something. I hope you are too! 
Yeah you're absolutely right that someone with innocent intentions should be able to explain themselves, apologise and walk away. It wasn't just the boys, but he was making sure to get them lying down and not at the other end when they were celebrating their win.
Kids in speedos and swimmers is so ingrained in our Aussie culture that we dont even think twice about it, but the way he was checking the pics and smiling was so creepy. It makes me so mad I could spit and after he was walked up the beach I got teary because I was so angry that I couldn't even do this activity with my son without worrying about perverts.
I agree that we all have that inner voice and I guess that's why I posted on here as a reminder for us all. Thanks for the support!
An incident similar to this happened at a local water park in Baton Rouge. Some mothers noticed a guy taking pictures of young girls in their bathing suits and notified the park management. They in turn called the police. He was arrested and eventually confessed to his intent to use them for sexual purposes. We should always trust those inner voices. They are there for a reason.
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