Login Email Address: Password: Remember me

Search Site:

You are here: Home | Magazine | Features | You The Jury | You the jury April 2009 - Would you want to know if paedophiles were living in your community?

You the jury April 2009 - Would you want to know if paedophiles were living in your community?

Could exposing known sex offenders lead to vigilante attacks, or do we have the right to know who's living in our midst?

Interviews by Elizabeth Openshaw

No Audrey* is the wife of a convicted sex offender, Tim*. They are in their 40s, and have a teenage daughter, Nicola*. Tim was convicted of indecent assault and received an 18-month prison sentence. On appeal, the sentence was reduced to nine months, of which he served half.

Children are most likely to experience sexual abuse from someone they know. That was the case with my husband abusing our daughter when she was seven. She told me about the abuse early, and Tim admitted it straightaway.

My first reaction was one of absolute shock, followed by horror, repulsion towards him, anger, disappointment and betrayal, but the priority was to look after Nicola. It would have been easy for me to ban Tim from seeing her but she wanted her daddy back, without the abuse. I agonised over it, but I learnt through counselling that an important part of Nicola's healing was for her to feel empowered and listened to.

After his prison sentence, Tim was treated in a specialist unit for a year. We met regularly with his therapists and Nicola responded well to counselling and still wanted her dad home. A lot of factors had to be in place for this to happen; gradually, we began the process of coming together as a family.

This return to normality has played a major role in Nicola's recovery. Her abuse was a chapter in her life, but not a defining moment. Now her major fear is people will find out - she doesn't see her dad as a monster but fears those who do. During the court case, we had to move because Tim was identified in the press. Nicola, then 8, was taunted about her daddy going to prison and being 'bad', though no one knew she was the victim. For families to have the choice of working through things and getting back together, the anonymity of the whole family needs protecting.

If Tim was named, Nicola and I would be at risk of being shunned, taunted and worse. The home we'd worked so hard to make would not be safe. The labelling of some people as 'dangerous' and therefore others as 'safe' can be confusing for children, and lead to less vigilance. If offenders aren't allowed to move on and gain a positive role in society, what alternative is there? I'd like a system where offenders can seek help without placing their families at risk. The police are trained specialists. Let's leave an area as sensitive as children's safety in their hands.

Yes Steve Bevan, 51, from Swindon, was abused from a young age. He is married with three grown-up children. In 1991, he set up a support group for male survivors of sexual abuse called Survivors Swindon (www.survivors swindon.com; 0845 430 9371). I was abused from the age of five to 16 by four family members and friends. For a few years, I was a keyworker in an ex-offenders hostel; I was responsible for several clients, including paedophiles. I've also worked in prisons, have seen how they're protected from other prisoners and how much money is spent on 'treatments'. They don't deserve to be treated differently from other criminals and shouldn't be afforded the luxury of anonymity.

Paedophiles should be monitored at all times, but even more closely than they are now. Tagging doesn't work, it only allows the agency with the contract to set a tag, but often offences are committed anyway, without appropriate action being taken.

I fully back Sarah's Law, but it doesn't go far enough. At the moment a mum can ask if a person is a paedophile but can't tell anyone else if they are. We have the right to know who's a danger so we can protect our children. The safety of our children overrides any need to protect paedophiles.
There are about 110,000 paedophiles in the UK and we need to know who they are - do we wait until another child is sexually abused, or do we act now, to protect that child from the danger they face?

By being aware of where paedophiles are, we can go some way to protecting our children. Last year four paedophiles who had disappeared were named on the police-affiliated Child Exploitation and Online Protection website and within two days two came forward, and two were found in a week, without trouble or violence.

I'd rather know, then I can protect my children and warn them away from the dangers. If a paedophile realises people know what he is, it will curb his desire to offend. Often, it's ignorance that leads to vigilante attacks. It's the same with mistaken identity. If the public had the full name, proper photo and any distinguishing marks of the paedophile, then these mistakes wouldn't happen. I want to stop people going through what I went through, and if that means identifying paedophiles, then that is the ultimate goal.

Would you want to know if paedophiles were living in your community? (CLOSED)

Yes

No

What do you think? Share your thoughts with other readers on Candis Chat.