Parents have a lot of responsibility in protecting children from risky situations. Children often get their clues from their parents. They will typically trust someone who is trusted by the parents. That is all the more reason why parents need to be extra careful in making sure that people coming in contact with the children can truly be trusted.
In the story in my book “Father Figure – my mission to prevent child sexual abuse”, I describe a single mother of two young daughters, starting to date a convicted child molester. There is nothing wrong in dating a convicted child molester since he has already done his time, but there really is no need to bring the children in for close contact with the person immediately. Because the mother encourages the children immediately to come close to the new person, the children will typically believe that this man can be trusted fully.
The point I try to make in the book is that it is not a good idea to get the children to connect with the new man at a very early stage. Even if the man is not a convicted child molester, it is important for the single mother to take some time to get to know the person well before introducing him to the children. This is an important precautionary move that is critical for protection of children. Parents should always keep in mind that what they do and how they do it, have a lot of impact of their children.