--- description: Oops. title: Teachers Evacuate Kids After Mistaking Fake Leg For Pedophile image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Kids Evacuated After Fake Leg Is Mistaken for a Pedophile  by [Charlotte Alter](/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Dec 17, 2013 10:48 PM CUT  by [Charlotte Alter](/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Dec 17, 2013 10:48 PM CUT It’s a kidnapper! It’s a child molester! No, it’s just some guy’s fake leg. Teachers evacuated 60 young British children from a swimming pool locker room after they thought they saw a pedophile watching the children, the Independent [reports. ](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/children-evacuated-from-swimming-pool-after-prosthetic-leg-mistaken-for-paedophile-9010525.html "undefined") It turns out the “pedophile” was just a prosthetic leg a disabled man had left in the locker room while he went swimming. Safety is always a priority, but why didn’t the teachers check to see whether the disembodied leg belonged to a sexual predator before evacuating the pool? Here is what I imagine that conversation might have gone like. (**Beware**: Fiction) **Concerned British Teacher:** Hello, is someone in here? **Fake Leg:** (silence) **Concerned British Teacher:** We have some children changing into bathing suits here, could you please leave? **Fake Leg:** (silence) **Concerned British Teacher:** Are you watching us? Why won’t you say anything? **Fake Leg:** (silence) **Concerned British Teacher:** Quick, Roberta– take the children. There’s a one-legged man over there who’s watching them. And SCENE. \[[The Independent](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/children-evacuated-from-swimming-pool-after-prosthetic-leg-mistaken-for-paedophile-9010525.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2038/kids-evacuated-after-fake-leg-is-mistaken-for-a-pedophile/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2038/kids-evacuated-after-fake-leg-is-mistaken-for-a-pedophile/"},"headline":"Kids Evacuated After Fake Leg Is Mistaken for a Pedophile","datePublished":"2013-12-17T22:48:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:06:47.220Z","description":"Oops.","url":"https://time.com/2038/kids-evacuated-after-fake-leg-is-mistaken-for-a-pedophile/","keywords":["Newsfeed","kids"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlotte Alter","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2038/kids-evacuated-after-fake-leg-is-mistaken-for-a-pedophile/","name":"Kids Evacuated After Fake Leg Is Mistaken for a Pedophile"}}]}] ```