Call For Megan’s Law After Sex Offender Alert

Calls for Megan’s Law to be implemented in Northern Ireland “as a matter of priority” have been made by the Rape Crisis Centre after the latest alert over a missing sex offender.

Robert Simpson Wallace, 78, who was living in Belfast, was back in custody last night after going missing on Thursday.
Police had warned he was “a serious risk to vulnerable women and children”.

Eileen Calder, of the Rape Crisis Centre, said the only way to keep women and children safe in Northern Ireland was to implement Megan’s Law.

“The only way to monitor these people is for the community to be aware of who they are as in Megan’s Law, which they have in the US,” she said.

“There is an internet directory they can look at to see their pictures and find out where these people are staying.

“It is not possible for any police force or probation service, no matter how much resources they put into it, to keep a track of offenders without the help of the community.”

This was a second time Wallace has disappeared in breach of his probation order.

Last August he went missing from approved accommodation in Belfast and was eventually arrested in Lurgan.
Yesterday afternoon, he was detained in Garvagh and is now in police custody.

A police spokesman said: “His arrest follows a great public response to the Press appeal on Friday evening and the Police Service would like to thank the media and members of the public for their assistance.”