Male or Female 12-15 year olds wanted to appear in my book

Sun 5 Oct 2008, 08:14

well said Igor, why not a phone call to Chipping Norton Theatre and find out if Mrs Dillon did use kids from there, seems so easy to check, plus no one has said parents can not accompany there kids to this casting.

Sun 5 Oct 2008, 07:31

And what if Mrs. Dillon is who she says she is and is doing exactly what she says she's doing?

I've had no reason to comment previously and am completely neutral on the substance of this issue, but the term Witch Hunt does ring a few familiar warning bells.

If the police are indeed aware of Mrs. Dillon's solicitations, then what right do the self-appointed moral police of this community have to draw unsubstantiated sinister speculations? Surely one phone call would set the record straight one way or the other.

Sun 5 Oct 2008, 02:53

Mrs Paz / Ms Dillon / Whoever

You seem unsettled, but our concerns are reasonable. You have failed to convince us that your intentions are legitimate. So, at the very least, you are foolish and naive. Let’s leave it at that.

PS my guess is that this is a lonely idiot trying to wind us all up. Richard, in your most democratic way, please call a halt to this. The oxygen of publicity is running thin.

Sat 4 Oct 2008, 20:07

Wow - that's a lot of assumptions! Let me answer the points made here in no particular order.

Firstly, Gerry - for some reason you have only quoted part of my response to you, conveniently leaving out mention of my CBR certificate and the names of the people both at…

Long post - click to read full text

Sat 4 Oct 2008, 11:42

Immediately after posting my first response to this posting, I emailed Richard & suggested that the ad be withdrawn for very much the reasons that Duncan & Gerry have suggested.

Richard decided, however, simply to delete the contact details & that is probably the best solution since the ad was up overnight. This way, the subsequent emails should alert any parent (or child!) unwise enough to be tempted by the offer of £100.

The question is: should the Chipping Norton police also be alerted. There are at least 3 alternatives: (1) Susi Dillon is honest, but naive (ii) this is some kind of phishing scam trying to set up contact with teenagers for suspect reasons (perhaps grooming or the sex or modelling industries) (iii) it fits with the other School Book scams, sometimes associated with the surname Dillon, that I gave a web reference to. In these cases, individuals or businesses are targetted & harassed in order to persuade them to pay large sums of money for the school books that they are deemed to have ordered i advance.

I intend also to alert Geoff Williams, the House Manager at Chipping Norton Theatre, about the fact that their name is being used in this context. I know just how strict they are about any kind of photography--especially the photographing of children. I, therefore, believe that they would be extremely surprised & distressed to see their name used in this kind of context.

Perhaps Gerry, as Chipping Norton webmaster, might also do the same!

Sat 4 Oct 2008, 09:29

I am the webmaster of chippingnorton.net and I never cease to be amazed at how tolerant and civilised you Charlbury folk are. Mike Williams is right. This message appeared in our Forum for the short length of time until I got home and saw it. I deleted it and wrote to the e-mail address in the ad as follows:

"Sorry but I have had to delete the entry you made just now on the Forum. Advertising to take pictures of kids using an anonymous name, no address and a mobile number. You have to be kidding!! This would only work if someone could be identified by name in the whole set up who is a known and trusted individual"

An exchange of e-mails ensued which didn't produce any reliable endorsements for "Susi" so I wrote to her again:

"I really don't see how I can satisfy myself about the legitimacy of all this. You must surely see the delicacy of it on a public website - crikey even the volunteer town councillors who work with teenagers serving cokes at chill-out sessions in the Town Hall have to be police-checked

I suggest you approach the school or the Youth Centre or the Dave Haigh Fund or the Church Youth organiser......."

At this point Susi decided to re-post her ad which really upset me:

"I am absolutely amazed that you have re-posted your message. I take very strong exception to you behaving in this way. I have removed it again"

Susi then replied:

"Your a moron Gerry, I have been told that you fancy yourself as some sort of keeper of the town. You have very small ideas and have a perverted mind......"

Sat 4 Oct 2008, 00:11

Ms Dillon,
I'm not a professional photographer but I know a bit about photography. There is absolutely NO NEED to have information about a models' height, unless they are going on a catwalk and even then, that can be seen (or measured)at the event; certainly not for children. Why on earth did you say that was necessary? You are probably entirely genuine but naive in today's market. You cannot ask for "children aged between 12 and 15" and say that they will be chaparoned by "a respected member of society" for several days. Just say a Parent can be on site for the shoot - bring them, be present throughout and, take them home. As a professional free-lance photographer, you should be well aware of the issues you are raising. Everyone knows that in order to publish the photos you will need a signed "model release form" which, legally, must give the full name and address of the model concerned for later legal checks but therefore, gives essential information to anyone. Given that you want photos, heights and names and addresses (latter for legal model release), I think you have no chance. The way you have worded your advertisement begs the question, who else could get the information - in "foreign language books" and what could they do with it?

Fri 3 Oct 2008, 14:56

Harriet, I think that is a great suggestion. Whilst I want to believe that Mrs Dillon is indeed genuine, it is worth checking and if I was an interested parent, I would be very careful before responding.

This is a great example of where this forum can be of massive benefit to the community (and not just Roger and Igor's personal venting fest!)

Fri 3 Oct 2008, 14:51

I know someone who works for Pearson/Penguin. Does anyone want me to bother them and see if they can find out whether Mrs Dillon is genuine?

Fri 3 Oct 2008, 13:27

I thought I saw this message on the Chipping Norton site yesterday, but it doesn't seem to be there any longer. I wonder why that is? Does Chippy site admin know something ?

Fri 3 Oct 2008, 12:52

On balance, I've decided to edit the contact details out of these postings. If the e-mail address was @pearson.com I would probably let it stand, but I'm afraid there's too much that's uncertain in what is, after all, a very sensitive area. Susi, a bit of Googling also suggests that you may also use another surname than Dillon, and though there may be a perfectly decent reason for that, it doesn't inspire confidence, I'm afraid.

If, however, someone from Pearson were available to verify the request I'd be happy to reinstate the contact details.

Fri 3 Oct 2008, 12:08

Pearson is, of course, I highly respectable and respected company. But since your books do not feature on the website, I would not find this very reassuring if I were a parent.

It's perhaps unfortunate for you that Dillon is a surname that figures in a lot of School Book scams. Some of these are listed at www.firetop.co.uk/2007/05/31/school-books-scam-continues/

If I were a parent, I would want a lot of reassurance--especially as it's not at all clear why the height statistics of individual children would be needed for an English language textbook.

Fri 3 Oct 2008, 11:48

Hi Christine,

The company is www.pearson.com, they own the FT and penguin books. The books are aimed at foreign school children learning English and these three books will be sold to the international market. The last two books are with the printers and I only have layouts for book one at this stage, which I am more than happy to show to parents who come to the casting. I usually use kids from the Chipping Norton Theatre but as Panto season is nearly here then there are no spares for my last book, that's why I am placing ad's in various local forums. If you need me to discuss anything you are more than welcome to come to my casting this Sunday between 10am and 12pm @ (redacted) Chipping Norton or you can call me on (redacted). I am also looking for grown ups, but that’s for another day. This is a legit request.

Fri 3 Oct 2008, 09:57

This is such an odd request that I suggest, Mrs Dillon, you supply the titles and a web link (to amazon or some other reputable bookseller) for the other two books you have published. That way parents and children can see that you are as legitimate as you claim.

Sorry to be so suspicious. But you must have huge sales for these books if you can afford to pay £100 per child. If they are subsidised in some other way, you should also explain how.

Thu 2 Oct 2008, 17:10

Hi,

I need boys and girls aged between 12 and 15 to appear in my English teaching book. I can pay £100 per day per child, I will need the kids during half term for 3 to 4 days from October 28th. All photography will take place in and around Chipping Norton. This is the last book in a series of three. I have used kids from the Theatre for the last two books. This is a professional set up, the kids will have a chaperone who is a respected member of the community and I will get licences from Oxfordshire county council for each child. Only children from Oxfordshire county can be considered. If interested please call or text me on (redacted) or you can email me on (redacted)
I would like to organise a casting for this Sunday the 5th October in the morning. I will take a quick pic of the child and take height measurements and that's it, this won't take more than two minutes of each child’s time.

Thanks, Susi