An outraged father of three enjoying a day out with his young sons in a U.K. park was branded a "pervert" by other parkgoers after he snapped photos of his own kids, the Daily Mail reported Tuesday.
Gary Crutchley, 39, was photographing his two youngest sons Cory, 7, and Miles, 5, on an inflatable slide when a woman running the slide asked that he stop. When he protested, other families waiting on the slide line also demanded he put the camera away.
One woman accused Crutchley of taking photos of children to put on the Internet and called him a pervert.
The accusations got so out of hand that Crutchley had to get two policemen to confirm he had done nothing wrong.
"What is the world coming to when anybody seen with a camera is assumed to be doing things that they should not?" Crutchley asked in an interview with the Daily Mail. "This parental paranoia is getting completely out of hand. I was so shocked."
'One of the police officers told me that it was just the way society is these days. He agreed with me that it was madness.'
The 39-year-old rubber consultant and father-of-three from Reedswood, Walsall, was with wife Tracey at the Wolverhampton Show when their sons asked to go on an inflatable slide.
He said: 'I started taking photographs of them having a good time. Moments later the woman running the slide told me to stop.
'She told me I could not take pictures of other people's children. I explained that I was only interested in taking photographs of my own children and pointed out that this was taking place in a public park.
'I then showed her the photos I had taken to prove my point:
'Then another woman joined in and said her child was also on the slide and did not want me taking pictures of the youngster. I repeated that the only people being photographed were my own children.
'She then said I could be taking pictures of just any child to put on the internet and called me a pervert.
'The incident took the gloss off the day and left a nasty taste in the mouth.'
He added: 'The two police officers confirmed that I had been perfectly within my rights to take photographs of my own children in the park.'
Mrs Crutchley, 37, a teaching support assistant and qualified nursery nurse said: 'I was annoyed, extremely upset and embarrassed.
'It is very sad when every man with a camera enjoying a Sunday afternoon out in the park with his children is automatically assumed to be a pervert.
'What makes it even more ridiculous is that both my husband and I had police checks last year because I was working as a child minder from our home for a period of time.'
Wolverhampton councillor Malcolm Gwinnett, whose daughter Tracey was running the ride, said: 'Our policy is to ask people taking photographs whether they have children on the slide. If they do, then that is fine. But on this occasion another customer took exception to what the man was doing and an argument developed between those two people that continued without any further involvement from staff on the slide.'
For those of you who enjoy taking pictures please note: In the U.S. you can legally take pictures of anyone anywhere on any public street or property. Too bad some people don't educate themselves before acting out.
