More parents are warned of local sex offenders – but say: It’s not enough
AN INCREASING number of parents have been told by police that an individual with access to their child is a sex offender – but some believe the current law does not do enough to protect children.
Sarah’s Law, officially known as the Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme, was introduced following the abduction and murder of Sarah Payne, eight, by paedophile Roy Whiting in 2000.
It allows anyone to ask their local police if someone has a record of committing crimes against children.
Such disclosures have nearly doubled since the law was introduced in 2011, rising from 120 a year to 219 annually, according to comparable figures obtained under freedom of information laws by Portsmouth University’s journalism department.
Out of the 46 forces in the UK, 22 returned comparable data, revealing at least 1,140 disclosures have been made to parents since 2011.
However, when including the
partial data returned by some forces, figures suggest it could be much higher, with at least 1,427 adults informed someone close to their child has a history of sexual offences since 2011.
But there have been complications, with one Yorkshire mother taken to court after using the scheme and subsequently outing a paedophile neighbour in 2017.
Claire Varin grew suspicious
Continued from Page 1. of a new neighbour after he knocked on their door and asked if their eight-year-old daughter would like to go berry picking with him.
She contacted West Yorkshire Police and discovered he had previously been jailed for possessing child-abuse images.
Under the conditions of Sarah’s Law, Ms Varin was made to sign a non-disclosure form, preventing her from warning anybody else. However, after her neighbours found out, she was taken to court.
She said: “It makes you question how effective the law is. It’s meant to be there to protect children but we can’t share the information. Technically you aren’t even supposed to tell your partner, although the police did accept I was going to do so to protect my children.”
The charges were eventually dropped but after the ordeal Ms Varin separated from her partner and moved away from where she lived.
Applications under Sarah’s Law can be made by anyone but the police will only inform the person who is able to protect the child.
Under the Freedom of Information request submitted for figures for Sarah’s Law, only two Yorkshire forces – Humberside Police and South Yorkshire Police – responded.
Humberside Police had 55 applications under Sarah’s Law in 2011/12 and made four disclosures. In 2018/19 the same force had 124 applications and made five disclosures.
South Yorkshire Police had 60 applications in 2011/12 and made 14 disclosures. In 2019 the force had 109 applications and made 25 disclosures.
Donald Findlater, director of child-abuse helpline Stop It Now, said it was reassuring to see the figures growing as it “demonstrates awareness”.