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Michael: "employers should know"
 
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"Parents should be told only if their children are at risk"

Government To Help Police Stop Paedophiles Reoffending

The Government is drawing up guidelines for the police to help them interpret the laws on protecting children from known sex offenders. It wants to ensure that information on offenders is not left in computer files but is used to protect the community.

The problem has been highlighted by a case in Huyton, Merseyside, where a convicted paedophile who says he will reoffend is soon to be released form a psychiatric clinic.

He is being held under the Mental Health Act at the Scott Clinic in Rainhill, Merseyside, and could be released back to the hostel within weeks if doctors cannot treat him.

Local people say not enough is being done to protect their children. Their local MP, Eddie O'Hara, is calling for a change in the law. And the Home Office minister, Alun Michael, has told the BBC he believes there are a number of problems in the existing system.

Mr Michael said information about convicted paedophiles should not be allowed to "just sit on a computer or gather dust in a file". He told the BBC Radio's World At One that employers, organisations involved with child care and partners of convicted paedophiles should be warned. He stressed that information must only be made available to parents if there was a risk to their children.

The Sex Offenders Act was passed shortly before the dissolution of Parliament in April. It requires paedophiles to register with the police any change of name and address, but there was no time to draw up the guidelines which will determine who should be told when a child abuser moves into the area.

Christine Connor of People Power Liverpool, which campaigns for public disclosure of known paedophiles, said PPL had collected thousands of signatures since they heard of the Huyton case.

"We have been collecting signatures and plan to present the petition to Tony Blair next month," she said. "The laws must be changed to allow police and social services to identify paedophiles when they leave prison. We do not condone vigilante groups going around attacking people, but we do believe that parents have a right to know so they can protect their children."



Diana, Princess of Wales, 1961-1997

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