POLICE investigations against a former Huddersfield Giants star arrested on suspicion of a child sex offence have been dropped.

And now ex-South African international Jamie Bloem has spoken of his relief that police ruled there is no evidence to substantiate the allegation.

The Calderdale man was arrested in July and quizzed by police, but was told last Thursday that no further action would be taken.

Jamie, 41, now a rugby league referee, believes changes need to be made to social networks to prevent such incidents escalating.

Jamie said: “I feel elated and relieved, but I’ve hardly slept the last four months.

“In this day and age and with all the Jimmy Savile stuff crimes against a child, especially sex crimes, are the most hated crime in society. It’s understandable, but what if the person is not guilty like I am?

“With the way social networks run, and being named by The Sun, it’s been a difficult time.”

Jamie, a former top-flight full-back for the Giants, added: “I don’t think my name should have been exploited in The Sun and I didn’t deserve the way they reported it.

“I understand the way the media works but I think that was unfair.”

And despite being arrested and quizzed by police, he is respectful of their need to investigate such claims, adding: “On the first day when police arrested me I thought it was heavy-handed, there were two uniformed police men stood at my gate, two detectives in my house and a car on the opposite side of the street.

“But I have to say I was treated very well by the police and I saw how much they have to deal with.

“There were other people swearing and shouting at them while I was there and they are just doing their job.

“I understand that they needed to investigate claims like that because it does happen, but I always knew there was nothing to my case.

“It’s a pity it became headline news – I was headline news all over the world, even in China where I’m not known.

“The one thing I’d like to change is social media. I can’t go into too much detail of the claim but I think there needs to be changes.

“There’s protection for children, but none for adults. There needs to be some come-back against people who don’t tell the truth on social media.”

He believes that people should have to prove their identity online as part of the registration process and he’s writing to Facebook to offer advice. He says, for example, that if people used their passport number the wider public will know who a person really is and if they are a minor.

He says the accusations have had a big impact on his family life, but that he and his wife remain strong.

“I’ve known my wife for 18 years and we’ve been married 15 years, she’s tough,” Jamie adds.

“On the day I was arrested she knew what I had been arrested for and she had all day with her thoughts, but when I got home and we talked she knew it wasn’t true.”

Jamie says he’s been overwhelmed with messages and letters of support since his arrest, adding: “The RFL were fantastic with me, Stuart Cummings, the referees’ boss, was fantastic and spoke to me and told me to keep going.

“I’m a grade one referee and I don’t know what the situation will be once the paperwork is done to lift the suspension, but I want to go back refereeing, maybe I’ll start in the championship.

“I’ve got a thick skin, my career has had its ups and downs and there’ll always be pockets of idiots anywhere in life.

“But in the last four months I’ve had thousands of messages of support from rugby league community, the level of support has been huge and that’s priceless. I’d like to thank them all.

“I want to put this behind me and get back to doing the job I love doing.”

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