Loophole that stops checks on sex crimes

Sturgeon’s ‘soft-touch’ reforms will let paedophiles go off radar

HUNDREDS of sex offenders are set to avoid supervision under the SNP’s new ‘soft-touch’ justice reforms.

Many paedophiles will be spared a spell behind bars as part of plans unveiled by Nicola Sturgeon at Holyrood last month.

But a loophole in the system – revealed today in the Scottish Mail on Sunday – also means that many criminals will be put on the sex offenders’ register for only three years instead of ten.

The change will leave the police and the authorities powerless to monitor offenders even though they may still pose a danger to the public.

Last night, critics accused Ministers of failing to protect the public. Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: ‘People will be hugely concerned to hear that sex offenders might be allowed to slip off the register in such a short space of time.

‘These individuals pose a threat to society and we need to ensure that they are properly monitored so they cannot reoffend.

‘Allowing them to go off the radar like this is not only failing the victims but also the communities that these offenders live in.

‘This must be urgently looked at by the Scottish Government and steps taken to ensure that any loophole is closed immediately.’

Last month, unveiling her Programme for Government, Miss Sturgeon revealed plans to, in effect, scrap jail sentences of a year or less. Sheriffs will be given guidance that advises them to hand criminals a community payback order (CPO) instead. This will mean many sex offenders avoiding jail.

However, another consequence of the change is that sheriffs will be restricted in how long they can put criminals on the sex offenders’ register. Sex offenders jailed for six to 12 months have to tell police of their whereabouts and be subject to monitoring for a decade.

But separate laws state that those on CPOs can only be on the register for a maximum of three years.

In 2011, the Scottish Government brought in a presumption against jailing criminals for three months or less. And with the number of sex offenders soaring, those receiving community-based punishments has rocketed from an annual mean of 241 to 428.

Analysis of the statistics suggests that around 70 sex offenders have been spared jail and several years

‘These individuals pose a threat to society’

of monitoring since the reforms kicked in.

But Ministers’ further scrapping of terms of up to 12 months will involve showing greater leniency to more serious criminals.

Last week, the Scottish Government would not comment on the loophole it had created.