Scots sex crime pilot protected 12 children

A sex offender disclosure pilot, which is to be rolled out across Scotland, has already protected more than a dozen children.

The first six months of the radical scheme in Tayside has resulted in 34 applications for information, including queries from 20 parents, seven grandparents, neighbours and friends. There have been four disclosures by police, three in relation to registered sex offenders and one for someone convicted of offences against children.

Officers can disclose information only about registered sex offenders and those with convictions against children.

Police cannot disclose data about an unconvicted sex ­offender or someone who has fallen off the sex offender register, but they can take action and pass information on to other agencies.

The pilot has given police more than 20 pieces of intelligence on incidents of domestic abuse and violent offenders who had fallen below the radar.

In addition, contrary to expectations, there has been no vigilantism and no malicious calls.

The decision by Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill to roll out the scheme follows the success of the pilot that gives parents, carers and legal guardians a right to register a child protection interest in any individual who has unsupervised access to their children.

The national scheme will allow a parent to make a background check on a new partner, childminder or family friend.

Police would be able to inform people who have made an application whether the named person has been convicted of sex offences.

This stops short of the original demands for a “Mark’s Law”, which would require police and councils to inform people if sex offenders are living in their area. A campaign for this was led by Margaret Ann Cummings, whose eight-year-old son, Mark, was killed by convicted sex offender Stuart Leggate in Glasgow in 2004.

The Herald has also found there are a number of reasons where grandparents or partners may not have information disclosed to them, even if the person is a convicted sex offender.

Chief Inspector Eric Knox, who is leading the pilot, said: “People are coming to us when they have genuine concerns not because they want to find out how many sex offenders there are living locally.

“I have been really happy with the way it has run. A lot of the work we are doing is preventative.

“If what we have done has protected one child, then it has been justified. There is no doubt we have already done that.

“There have been incidents of domestic abuse identified as a result of the disclosures made. There are individuals now back on our radar because of the information we have received.

“If the person is not on the sex offenders register, then we could not disclose the information under this scheme but we could take action including passing it on to child protection.

“We may go back to the person who contacted us and say we can not disclose but it doesn’t mean there isn’t information held about this person.

“Criminal justice social work have much wider powers of disclosure.

“Part of the intervention may be sitting down with the mother to explain. One of the things we tell parents is that when you are with your children and you introduce someone to them, they become a trusted member of the family.

“Then the children will go out on their own to play and that is where the danger is. You are no longer there but that person is already trusted.”

Mr MacAskill said the scheme would start to be rolled out nationwide by the end of the year, although Fife Constabulary and Central Scotland Police have said they are keen to have it up and running by autumn. A similar pilot in England and Wales resulted in 585 concerned parents made enquiries to police in the 12 months to September 2009.

Researchers from De Montfort University, Leicester, ­analysed 195 cases in England and their report to the Home Office showed that at least 24 children had been at risk from convicted sex offenders.

Chilling murders that sparked demands for new legislation

    * Mark Cummings, was eight years old when he killed by convicted sex offender Stuart Leggate in Glasgow in 2004. The Tayside pilot was motivated in part by the tragedy. Mark’s mother, Margaret Ann, led a high-profile campaign for a new law – dubbed Mark’s Law – that would require police and councils to inform people if sex offenders were living in their area. The move stops well short of the full disclosure campaigners have urged, but has been welcomed by Ms Cummings.

    * Megan’s Law in the US came about after the rape and murder of seven-year-old Megan Kanka, by a known paedophile in 1994. Jesse Timmendequas had two previous convictions for sexual offences. The murder provoked outrage and Megan’s parents campaigned for a change in the law until it was passed by President Bill Clinton in 1997. Parents must now be informed when offenders move into their neighbourhoods after being freed from prison.The law has since been adopted in some form by all 50 states, but opponents argue it encourages vigilantism and does not give offenders who have paid their dues the chance to merge back into society.

    * Sarah Payne was eight years old when she was murdered by convicted paedophile Roy Whiting in July 2000 in West Sussex. Since then her mother, Sara Payne, has led a high-profile campaign calling for a British equivalent of Megan’s Law.

Following a year-long trial in four different areas in England and Wales, the scheme will now be rolled out to 18 further police force areas this summer, including North Yorkshire and Durham.