Sex Offenders scheme extended

[jamesjosh]

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8546126.stm

A scheme allowing parents to check if someone is a sex offender will be rolled out across England and Wales by March 2011, the Home Office says.

A year-long pilot has already protected 60 children, ministers say. A similar scheme is to be launched in Scotland.

Under the scheme, police can give parents more information about someone who has access to their children.

Any views on this ?

My concern is the following scenario

Mrs A thinks her neighbour Mr B is a paedophile and so she asks the Police. The answer comes back negative but Mrs A is still dubious and she tells her other neighbour Mrs C that police have said Mr B is on the list and an innocent man is labelled a paedophile Could that happen ?

This breakdown from the article is interesting.

17%; Ex-partner's new partner
16%: Neighbour
16%: Family member/friend of family member
9%: Boyfriend/girlfriend
9%: Authority figure
8%: Family friend/partner of friend
7%: Friend
4%: Neighbour's relative/partner
14%: Other categories

[Jade]

Only if Mrs A was concerned about the presence of Mr B in her child's life. (which makes that list interesting!)

And if someone makes things up about someone else there is nothing this law can do to stop it.

Lots of blokes have been labelled Paedos I am sure by nasty gossips. Remember that mob that went after the paediatrician because they didn't understand the words and only focused on the unfortunate similarity in the use of the "paed"

Perhaps Latin and Greek should be compulsory, after all.

[aubrey]

Better safe than sorry - because everyone knows that it's only loners and weirdos who abuse children

[aubrey]

Also - what is a sex offender?

I have drawn the attention of readers of this blog before to the abusive targeting of sex workers in New Orleans and the placing of sex workers on sex offender’s registers which means they are listed along side rapists and child molesters. Black and trans sex workers in New Orleans especially are it appears being targeted by the police. In many of the highlighted cases in New Orleans it is especially sex workers who are also the most vulnerable people in that society who appear to be the targets of this disgraceful policy. Placing people on sex offender’s registers that will affect their lives for years is not only disgraceful but wrong. It reflects badly upon New Orleans and upon the USA. Please find time to sign this petition and help to stop this abuse.

(from this site.)

[sweetjessicajane]

Two things.

First - how does this work? E.g. Mr B. moves into my street I'm concern about him, I make a request to the police yet all I know about this man is his name and address. How do I know the information I get back; good or bad; is about the right individual? Is just knowing a name and address enough information to correctly identify a person?

Second - this scheme only picks up known affenders. Just because the report comes back OK I can't relax I still need to be vigilant about my child's safety.

[Jade]

First - yes, I think so (Police will know where he lives, or are supposed to)

Second - correct. Parents should not feel safe.

[sweetjessicajane]

Mar 4, 2010 12:08:38 GMT Jade said:

First - yes, I think so (Police will know where he lives, or are supposed to)

Second - correct. Parents should not feel safe.

"are supposed to" - as I understand it, isn't it the sex affender on the register that is supposed to inform the police if they move. If they move and don't inform the police what can the police d

[Jade]

They can arrest, I think

If he is on licence then isn't there some automatic "back to jail" thing?

(where is skylark when you need her!?)

[sweetjessicajane]

I was listening to this story on the news.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1256307/Convicted-sex-attacker-Peter-Chapman-admits-murder-teenager-Ashleigh-Hall.html

He was released in November 2000 and supervised by the police and the probation service under Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA).

He moved to Liverpool where he was monitored every three months as a high risk offender.

In 2002 he was arrested by Cheshire Police for the rape and kidnap of a prostitute in Ellesmere Port but the case was dropped.

By June he had moved to Bristol where he was arrested for deception offences. In February 2003 he was arrested in Liverpool for the rape and kidnap of a prostitute. Again the case was dropped.

Incredibly, because he kept out of trouble for the next three years, he was downgraded to medium-risk in 2007.

By early 2008 he no longer needed to report to his probation worker but was still being monitored by police under MAPPA every six months.

Later that year, in September, when police visited his Liverpool home, they discovered he was no longer there. They tried to find him locally but failed.

It was only a year later that they circulated his details nationally as a missing sex offender.

It seems that he was being checked on every six months. He moved, didn't tell the police, so they lost track of him.

How many others are out there that have been lost track off?

[Jade]

literally thousands I would guess.