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National extension of child sex offender scheme welcomed by child protection campaign MP
Claims that Sarah’s Law, aimed at better protecting children from paedophiles - and at reassuring parents - is to be rolled out across the country, have been warmly welcomed by former child protection officer and North East Somerset MP Dan Norris.
Four years ago Dan was part of a special Home Office delegation that visited the USA to look closely at the operation of Megan's Law - the American system that allows public access to the names and addresses of convicted sex offenders. Dan and his colleagues looked at how the advantages of Megan's Law could be applied to better protect children here in the UK, without also introducing some its known disadvantages - like pushing paedophiles underground or vigilante attacks. This work has resulted in a UK version of Megan's Law, known as Sarah's Law, which has been piloted by the Government in four areas of the UK.
Under the Sarah's Law scheme, parents, carers and guardians can check with police if someone who has unsupervised access to their children has a record of sex offending. Home Secretary Alan Johnson has welcomed the success of the four pilot schemes looking at Sarah’s Law in Hampshire, Cleveland, Warwickshire and Cambridgeshire since 2008. It is expected the Home Secretary will now roll out the scheme across the country.
“I was always confident Sarah’s Law would be successful in better protecting our children,” said Dan, who trained with the NSPCC and worked locally as a child protection officer before becoming an MP.
“That is why three years ago I was so encouraged when then-Home Secretary John Reid said he wanted North East Somerset to be a pilot area, and so disappointed that our area's Chief Constable was unable to take up that opportunity at the time.
“I’m not at all surprised at the success of the Sarah's Law pilot schemes,” said Dan. “The national extension of Sarah’s Law will be good news on many levels.
“First and foremost it is terrific news for children. There is the potential for hundreds of children each year right across the West Country (and thousands across the UK) to be made safer from adults with harmful intent.
“Secondly, the scheme will help reassure parents who are worried about adults who have unsupervised contact with their children.
“And it also signals good news for adults who are wrongly accused of having a criminal history of harming children."
Dan went on to hail a national extension as a significant victory for the rights of children: “Bluntly, children's rights too often come second place to those of the adults who harm them. Abusers exploit this unfairness to harm over and over again until they are caught. Sarah's Law helps protect children by removing the secrecy which paedophiles use to hide their past record of wickedness against children to keep on abusing.
“Some people
opposed the idea of making more information available to the public to
help better protect children. They were wrong then, and the success of
all four pilots right across the UK, shows they are just as wrong now.
Parents across North East Somerset, the West Country, and the nation as
a whole will strongly welcome the scheme being launched in their area.
It can't come soon enough.”
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