'I never knew my partner was a sex offender'

Legal experts say child sex offenders "often groom not just the victims but also the significant others"

It was just before the Covid-19 pandemic when Lauren thought she had met the man of her dreams, describing it as a "fairy tale romance".

But he was hiding a secret, having been convicted of downloading indecent images of children and would soon admit to grooming a child online.

"He was very charismatic, he always made me feel special and important," she said.

The couple were "in love" and moved in together in the south of England but then he revealed he had a previous suspended sentence, but gave very few details about what he called a "misunderstanding".

Lauren, not her real name, explained: "I tried to ask questions but I didn't know what I was asking about. He said it was all a 'storm in a teacup'... and nothing to worry about…

"Of course, I believed him. Thinking back on it now, I think he groomed me."

'Disappointment and heartbreak'

The conviction was for downloading indecent images of children.

Lauren, who is in her 50s, only discovered this when her partner then pleaded guilty to grooming a 12-year-old girl online, receiving a two-and-a-half year prison sentence.

"My whole world just stopped," she said.

"The level of disappointment and heartbreak when I found out that this was what he was - I fell apart."

She said there had been a police search of their home a short time before his guilty plea but she was still unaware what was going on at the time, and he downplayed it all.

It was a family member who actually told her of his crimes after he was jailed.

Lauren said despite ending the relationship straight away, she was treated differently by some people in the local community and had to relocate.

"People just look at you slightly differently because you were so close, people want to know 'did you know?'," she said.

"If I had known of course I would have said something."

One charity that helps families of abusers and victims say it is seeing "a rise in demand"

Andrew Williams is a principal lecturer in criminology and criminal justice at the University of Portsmouth and has done extensive research in this area of law.

He said child sex offenders "often groom not just the victims but also the significant others".

"In this case it sounds as if he's groomed the women in order to hide, minimise his previous offending, front-stage 'normality' so he can continue offending against external victims under the guise of respectability," he added.

ACTS FAST is a national charity, based in Dorset, which offers trauma support to both the families of child sex offenders and the parents of children who are abused.

It is seeing "a rise in demand", according to Simone Gosden, the chief executive, with 94 referrals last year and 165 so far this year.

"For a lot of our clients, it's the point of the knock; the police investigation; and any subsequent investigations by children's services, that is all part of that trauma which they are processing and dealing with," she said.

If you have been affected by the issues raised in this story you can visit the BBC Action Line for support.