Hi Georgygirlofairbnb, I did IMMEDIATELY report this man to Airbnb. I explained in detail what I believe had occurred and that I believe this man to be a pedophile. This was done to prevent him from using Airbnb ever again, possibly for the abuse of a minor.
As for the teen, he was long gone after they exited the apt early in the morning. I was not given any identification of this boy. Only ID is what German man would have provided to Airbnb to create his account.
Can I protect that child from the next predator? Oh, I wish I could. Most likely he was already on his way to the next spot of his travels by sundown. I wish I could stop all trafficking of children.
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Hi @Barns I think when it comes to sexual exploitation of children there can be no over-reacting.
The host indicated she thought her listing had been used for ‘business purposes’.She wouldn’t have said that if she had a booking with a mother and their children.
Asking guests to confirm their relationship to minors if it’s not obvious, is something that any host I would hope would do. I don’t see this as onerous. If I was concerned of course I would report it to the relevant authorities.
Unfortunately, we live in a world where sexual abuse of children and adults is common. You see it as an extra role for hosts. If a host is concerned and this host is, then I feel they should trust their instincts.
Personally I always ask guests about who is accompanying them. If I had any concerns of the nature expressed by this host, I would have asked the guests about the relationship of the children accompanying her when they arrived. Once they have left it’s more difficult for experts to help. However not impossible.
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I think we should be careful of setting a precedent for turning guests in every time we see a sulky teenager.
As long as normal families are not put through extraordinary levels of grief because a host had ‘Childline’ on speed dial 1, and couldn’t wait to do their duty.
I think the originator of this thread made it quite clear that she believed the adult guest was not related to the children in this instance and had concerns about why they had been staying at her listing.
I don’t think anyone is this thread has been referring to a normal family set up, when taking about this issue.
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Should be illegal across the board, No. the age of consent is when a person is deemed mature enough to consent to sexual relationships with any adult of their choosing. We cannot have a complex system of age increments- where would the government intervention end and who would enforce it???
As a professional in this field that is not what age of consent means. It is the age any adult can have sex with another person. There are sometimes special rules for other young people of a certain age. For example:
In Australia an adult is 18 (vote, drink, get married, manage your own finances). Age of consent in Australia is 16. However a child of 14 can consent to sex with another child over 14 who is within 2 years of their age- 14 to under 16. Any person over 16 can have sex with any person of any age over 16.
For what it’s worth, based on the very limited information provided, police and child protection would not respond to this scenario. There is no evidence that the children were exploited, underage and given booze or having sex, or that the children were not the adults or lawfully in her care.
It’s good to be cautious but OP did not obtain necessary info for any authority to respond, nor do I think Airbnb would release confidential info based on such vague concerns.
In saying that people should ask the right questions and raise concerns and report abuse when it happens.
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@Helsi And a Portsmouth lynch mob believed they were right when they turned up a a paedophiles house.
Turns out that the house owner was a paediatrician, not a paedophile. Easy mistake to make.
The whole ‘asking for id if you’re suspicious’ thing, is clearly not related to the family in the opening post, I’m just saying that the highly emotive nature of this thread may lead to well meaning hosts overstepping their roles.
Perfect post, and from someone in the field.
As a parent, I would have no issue with someone being concerned that my child (who was travelling with me, or possibly like these two kids -not) was safe - even if that meant they were calling the authorities or asking me for i.d. I have no issue with someone looking out for the safety of my child. Period.
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Exactly, I’m all in favour of looking out for the wellbeing of children, I was a foster parent for 2 years.
But I’m sure you WOULD have issues if your children were taken away by Social Services due to a misunderstanding by someone who means well, but possibly sees too much drama wherever they look.
Full stop
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I agree great post from @Emily.
The key was the OP speaking to the guest about the relationship between the children and herself.
Only then can a decision be made about whether others need to be involved.
By the way I also work with children and adults who have been sexually abused both at home and abroad, so basing my input based on my professional knowledge in this area.
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Then you’ll know not everyone is qualified to spot sexualised behaviour in children, wouldn’t do Airbnb any favours if keen hosts spot a moody teen, and think: “I’ve read about this, the forum says it’s our duty to ring the police”.
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Presumably Airbnb does a background check on USA members but if the traveler is from outside USA I wonder.
I didn’t suggest hosts should ring the police straight off, nor did I say everyone is qualified to spot sexualised behaviour.
I suggested if they had concerns about guests accompanying children who they were not related to, it is fine to ask them how they are connected.
And if the hosts then had concerns/weren’t satisfied with the explanation they could look at contacting a child protection charity or social services etc for advice.
The sad reality is most abuse comes from someone known by the child family/friends/people in positions of authority.
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Of course!
(I must now get back to watching Andy Summers do sumo wrestling).
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No, Airbnb does not do background checks.
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Why do you persist in so grossly mischaracterizing (like the leap to “charging for DNA tests”) why there is reason for concern? Not one post has urged hosts to ring the police if they spot a moody teen.
Reposting the disturbing points from the OP
1.the place was in a bit of a state,
2. lots of alcohol bottles and
3. loads and loads of used tissues
4. a used condom
5. minors who were both really shy and did not seem to be her children.
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The only “justification” I’ve seen on this thread for not believing guests who present themselves as parent and child is that the two aren’t the same ethnicity. I hope we all know that a parent can be a different ethnicity than their child.
Also, as you point out most abuse comes from people well known to the child including their parents.
Therefore, we should be concerned about abuse, not about trying to figure out if people are or aren’t related to one another.
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This is what Airbnb says about background checks
https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1308/does-airbnb-perform-background-checks-on-members
I don’t think the OP mentioned anything about the adult guest being a different ethnicity from the children?
I must have missed this @EllenN - can you link/highlight this.
We don’t know why @Christine_Moore had concerns about these guests so it’s hard to comment any further on this situation.
However, as a general point, where sexual abuse takes place it’s not unknown for an abuser who is known to a family (either related/friend/position of power) to take children they are abusing on holiday.
I didn’t say that the original poster said that the adult was a different ethnicity from the child. I said that it’s the only “justification” I’ve seen on this thread for deciding that someone who claims to be a child’s parent isn’t. It was a post from a host who said, “Upon arrival, I saw that the man was maybe in his 60’s, pale skin. He introduced me to his “son” who didn’t make eye contact, just kept looking down at his sneakers. The teen looked like a ragged refugee fleeing through Europe. Dark skin and hair. Definitely not a blood relative.”
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