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Chit Chat
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24 Jan 10
11:52
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Date Joined:
02 Feb 02
c&p'd from BBC News ....
Parents across England and Wales could be told about sex offenders who may come into contact with their children.
The government is considering rolling out the scheme, currently being trialled in Hampshire, Warwickshire, north Cambridgeshire and Cleveland.
Home Secretary Alan Johnson said early results were "extremely encouraging" and the project had protected children.
"Sarah's Law" was proposed after the murder of eight-year-old Sarah Payne by a convicted sex offender 10 years ago.
Sarah was kidnapped and murdered by Roy Whiting in West Sussex in 2000.
Her mother, Sara, a child protection campaigner, told the News of the World: "In all the long years of campaigning for parents' rights to keep their children safe from predatory paedophiles, this is the most important development to date."
Under the measures, families will be able to ask police if someone with access to a child has convictions or has been previously suspected of abuse.
In the first six months of the trial, which started in September 2008 in Southampton, Stockton, north Cambridgeshire and Warwickshire - more than 150 parents made inquiries. Of those, 10 were given relevant information.
The home secretary said: "Protecting children and families from sex offenders is one of my top priorities and the UK already has one of the most robust systems of managing sex offenders in the world.
"The development of this scheme is a major step forward in our ability to protect children from sex offenders.
"Early results are extremely encouraging and the pilot has provided crucial protection for children who might otherwise be at risk."
He said results from the year-long pilot were still being evaluated and talks with the police and children's charities would take place before a final decision was made extending the scheme nationally.
American law
Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling said the Conservatives were sympathetic to what the Home Office was trying to achieve.
He said: "If the pilots have worked properly we would be happy to see the scheme extended."
But Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne called for more information about the schemes to be made available.
He said: "The concern is that this will do nothing for the safety of children and could even lead to an increase in sex offenders."
Michele Elliott, founder of children's charity Kidscape, welcomed the move.
"We are absolutely delighted, we have been campaigning for this, we think it's good for children and it's about time," she said.
"It's interesting that they have chosen to do this now with an election around the corner, it's a popular thing, but whatever the motivation of the politicians it's important that parents will now be able to get access to this information." (Well spotted that man!)
The so-called Megan's Law in the US, which allows the publication of names, addresses and pictures of paedophiles in some states, prompted calls for an equivalent "Sarah's Law" in the UK.
Sara Payne, who is the government's Victims Tsar, has been undergoing treatment after complications following brain surgery but is said to have responded well.
Parents across England and Wales could be told about sex offenders who may come into contact with their children.
The government is considering rolling out the scheme, currently being trialled in Hampshire, Warwickshire, north Cambridgeshire and Cleveland.
Home Secretary Alan Johnson said early results were "extremely encouraging" and the project had protected children.
"Sarah's Law" was proposed after the murder of eight-year-old Sarah Payne by a convicted sex offender 10 years ago.
Sarah was kidnapped and murdered by Roy Whiting in West Sussex in 2000.
Her mother, Sara, a child protection campaigner, told the News of the World: "In all the long years of campaigning for parents' rights to keep their children safe from predatory paedophiles, this is the most important development to date."
Under the measures, families will be able to ask police if someone with access to a child has convictions or has been previously suspected of abuse.
In the first six months of the trial, which started in September 2008 in Southampton, Stockton, north Cambridgeshire and Warwickshire - more than 150 parents made inquiries. Of those, 10 were given relevant information.
The home secretary said: "Protecting children and families from sex offenders is one of my top priorities and the UK already has one of the most robust systems of managing sex offenders in the world.
"The development of this scheme is a major step forward in our ability to protect children from sex offenders.
"Early results are extremely encouraging and the pilot has provided crucial protection for children who might otherwise be at risk."
He said results from the year-long pilot were still being evaluated and talks with the police and children's charities would take place before a final decision was made extending the scheme nationally.
American law
Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling said the Conservatives were sympathetic to what the Home Office was trying to achieve.
He said: "If the pilots have worked properly we would be happy to see the scheme extended."
But Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne called for more information about the schemes to be made available.
He said: "The concern is that this will do nothing for the safety of children and could even lead to an increase in sex offenders."
Michele Elliott, founder of children's charity Kidscape, welcomed the move.
"We are absolutely delighted, we have been campaigning for this, we think it's good for children and it's about time," she said.
"It's interesting that they have chosen to do this now with an election around the corner, it's a popular thing, but whatever the motivation of the politicians it's important that parents will now be able to get access to this information." (Well spotted that man!)
The so-called Megan's Law in the US, which allows the publication of names, addresses and pictures of paedophiles in some states, prompted calls for an equivalent "Sarah's Law" in the UK.
Sara Payne, who is the government's Victims Tsar, has been undergoing treatment after complications following brain surgery but is said to have responded well.
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First six months from September 2008 ... and since then? Only ten bits of relevant information (which might include "he's clean") passed on.
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Yes Ramruma - not exactly going to make concerned parents sleep a whole lot better thus far.
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Does sound like they are talking it up pre election and then will decide not to bother a few months after if they win
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its a joke!...."sarahs law"...wouldnt have saved "sarah" at all....roy whiting would never have been checked by sarahs parents in a million years!
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Thats true.
Though i think the original concept was that people would be able to see a list of convicted sex offenders within 10 miles of where they lived |
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Well the whole thing seems like a nonsense. Surely a law should be passed that paedophiles that have been charged/sentanced and then released should either accept chemical castration or constant medication to curb their instincts. This 'Sarah's law' is better than nothing, will maybe alert some and will doubtless lead to some witch hunts too. When a child sex offender finishes a sentance though, the recriminations of the likelyhood of them reoffending are hardly the same as a burglar when they are released. This possibility should be taken out the equation.
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I don't see why they should have anonymity . They have earned their notoriety.
If someone thrreatens/attacks them they can call the police like anyone else . |
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Personally I'm in favour of criminals serving sentences decided by a trail, when a govenment starts adding to that, I think results in overly lenient judgements, or at best, trial by how violent your neighbours are.
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Too right they should be named and shamed tobes - just end up costing a fortune in Police protection or in extreme cases possibly even new identities.
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Don't see why they should get new identities, there are plenty of people at risk from violent thugs through no fault of their own, they don't get protection programmes ,and it is not an additional punishment just to let people know who they are!
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it is if people are likely to get a bit vigilante
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No they shouldn't get new identities ideally, but maybe I'm just cynical that government reluctance to more transparency over this is due to the knock on effects of their whereabouts being public knowledge.
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As i said Spark if they are threatened then they can phone the police and people who attack them can be prosecuted.
It is not an additional punishment to simply allow people to know who they are. People know who they are anyway , as they will have been identified at their trial . Does anyone seriously think it should be illegal for someone who knew that Mr X was a paedophile (because he had been living next door to him when he was convicted) to tell those who move to the area after Mr X gets out what he had done? Serious Restriction on Free Speech imo. |
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People attacking someone can be prosecuted regardless of whether the victim has previously phoned the police tobers. If the victim is dead, it's scant consolation to them.
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tobes - Your last post about it being 'local knowledge' made me think it would be interesting to know the stats on the amount of child sex offenders who return to the same area on release. I just imagined it would be very few who had the nerve to do so, but I suppose financially it may not always be possible to move elsewhere.
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sparkmaster. 25 Jan 02:00
People attacking someone can be prosecuted regardless of whether the victim has previously phoned the police tobers. If the victim is dead, it's scant consolation to them I never said it was . Just that plenty of people are at risk of being attacked: Women who have split up with violent partners, people who have reported local thugs for anti social behavour and so on .From time to time you read that people like that have been murdered .They don't get a huge police operation to protect them, they just have to dial 999 and hope for the best , so why should paedophiles get any more consideration. |
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They shouldn't Tober, they should be the same as everyone else.
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Thats right , and people knowing who they are would mean they were treated the same as everyone else.
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Only if other criminals were subject to the same policy.
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But other criminals are never going to provoke the same concerns or reactions as a child sex offender!
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Mmmm...a serial killer next door would bother me...but that was never the point.
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I'm just saying people can find out what they've done , from the publically available info on their conviction, where they live from people who know where they live.
In the same way you could find out where anybody lived , a combination of publically available info and people who know them. Someone who knew you could say 'Sparkmaster lives in whatever street in Stoke, and posts on Chit Chat' So why couldn't someone say 'Mr X is a paedophile and lives at No.17' |
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There was a paediatrician who lived next to a friend of mine but no worries guys one of the local hardmen went round and sorted him out.
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Anyone here banging the Human Rights drum and want to disagree with me that it should be law that all convicted paedophiles that are released should face chemical castration?
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I'm sure I've read of offenders in America going on the run because of their fear of attack, which prevents the authorities keeping tabs on them.
Also, it was thought that they could be hiding in groups to provide mutual protection, which I would think would make them far more of a potential danger. |
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What about all these people, many of them in high positions, who are getting just a slap on the wrist for downloading hardcore images of children. They are all just one step away from acting out their fantasies.
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Selina's not far wrong, a paediatrician did have windows smashed and car vandalised by vigilantes.
Wonder what would have happened on the Dewsbury Moor estate during the Shannon Matthews disappearance, just the sort of crowd who would relish wandering about with placards and bricks |
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Hoss - A concern of course, but surely at some stage tighter internet controls will come in to try and regulate these things at source.
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starfish
I wasn't sure if selina's post was a p1ss take as the word paediatrician, not paedophile was used. Anyway, mob rule and the sheep mentality is a dangerous thing, but I doubt too much sleep would have been lost if anything had happened to Karen Matthews. |
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Missed the point? Noone cares about Karen Matthews but they should do about a local innocent, maybe a paediatrican, maybe a family member of an offender. And how much resources would have been diverted controlling vigilantism.
At least i'm sure the detectives would have taken the same approach in their investigations, knowing that the majority of child abductions and abuse are caused by family members who are not on any list. |