Yes, this is what makes it especially shocking. His conviction was reported in the press over two years ago and it's taken this long for us to notice. In that time he's been playing on Apterous and posting on this forum, on which he was a global moderator until today.Rhys Benjamin wrote: ↑Thu Jan 26, 2023 8:07 pm Looking at the date on that article (December 2020), and some of the case details given in it (which I am not repeating), what concerns me a lot is the fact he has been active on Apterous and here between then and now.
As Jon says, if it can be Jim, it could be anyone. Do we have to google everyone's name periodically as a matter of course now?
Strongly agree. Jim last attended an event in 2019, but what if he'd come to either COLIN since his conviction with none of us knowing about it? He's not the first member of our community to be convicted of crimes like these, and, well, you know how the second half of that sentence goes. What if next time it's someone else equally as respected and trusted, like an event organiser?
A while ago, one suggestion that got floated around was to require a Basic DBS check for all FOCAL event organisers. Then, it seemed like unnecessary extra costs and paperwork. Now it's looking more like a sensible precaution to protect FOCAL and to reassure eventgoers, especially newbies who hardly know anyone yet, that the people we trust to organise events, and to whom we can confidentially report any creepy behaviour, aren't themselves guilty of worse crimes.
Serious suggestion. A basic criminal record check costs £18. Organiser pays and prices it into the event. Organiser has to show it to FOCAL, who then decide whether or not to endorse their event. And if you wanted to extend this to anyone who helps with running events in any capacity, such as by bringing ancient monitors or fixing misbehaving tournament software, then I'd gladly get one myself.