Scheming and under the radar.. evil paedophile who abused my little boy
Attacker was able to target son because he wasn’t on the sex offenders register
A PAEDOPHILE who abused children in Scotland but was not on the sex offenders register was able to move to England and attack a six-year-old boy with special needs.
Devious Andrew Snook even pretended to have a disability himself, that he was mute, to get close to the child and his mother.
The 56-year-old from Edinburgh, convicted of a string violent assaults on youngsters in the 80s and 90s, had been able to hide his past because his offences pre-dated the sex offenders register.
The mum of the boy has backed calls for the names of sex offenders, convicted of crimes predating the notification scheme to be retroactively added to the sex offenders register.
She said she is devastated by what has happened to her child.
The mum, from South Tyneside, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said: “I am heartbroken for my son and livid with the authorities.
“I feel we have been completely let down by everyone involved.
“There should definitely be a way of tracking paedophiles who aren’t on the sex offenders register because their crimes are so historic.
“It doesn’t matter how much time has passed. They are still dangerous.”
The mum only learnt of her son’s abuse in June 2021021 after police visited at home her over a “safe-afeguarding” issueue but it was tooo late and the boy disclosed he had already been targeted.
The mum contacted police and Snookk was arrested – but to her horrorror bailed to the same address – and thehe family spent the next sixix months living in fear.
Snook, of Boldon Colliery, who is originally from Edinburgh, appeared at Newcastle Crown Court last week where he was handed four years and 11 months after he admitted causing a young boy to engage in sexual activity.
He was put on the sex offenders register for life and made subject to a lifelong sexual harm prevention order.
He was also made subject to a restraining order. The court was told
Snook hasha a “predilectiontion for sexualsexu activity with young boys” and hadh committed offences in the 80s andan 90s.
In 1996, he committed common assault against a young boy by putting his hand over his mouth and dragging him into a house before the child escaped.
It was the first time the victim’s mum became fully aware of his sick past.
She said: “The first time I saw him, he offered to help me carry something heavy but I said no because he was old and had a walking stick. He told me he was mute. He communicated by typing words into his phone and then showing me the screen.
“One day, he turned up at my flat and said he was able to speak again. I was so happy for him I started to cry. He had told me he hadn’t been able to tell his mum he loved her. “Andrew was manipulative.
“This man should never have been allowed to move close to us.
“When we realised Andrew had been bailed back to the same address, we were devastated. My son was terrified. We’ve been left completely traumatised.
“I hope there are no other victims but I wouldn’t be surprised if there are, due to the way he wheedles his way into people’s lives.
“My son is so happy he is locked up but this should never have happened. I don’t want any other families to go through what we have.
“Something needs to change.” In February, we unmasked the president of the Robert Burns Federation as paedophile Douglas Stuart Hammond, who was convicted in 1991 of abusing two boys and who was not on the sex offenders register.
He lied his way to to the job where he had access to school children.
Hammond, 67, who was forced to
resign, had changed his identity to become Marc Sherland.
In 1991, Hammond was convicted of indecently assaulting boys, aged eight and 10, when he was an educational community worker at Strathclyde Regional Council.
The mum in the Snook case said he was able to manipulate her safe in the knowledge that his former crimes would not be revealed.
Scottish Conservative shadow justice secretary Russell Findlay MSP said: “This is another shocking case in which a highly dangerous predator was subject to no restrictions because they’ve not been on the register due to the date of their convictions.
“Despite the lack of formal monitoring, the police were aware this man was a risk to children, although their warning came too late. This family deserves to know why a known paedophile was free to target their child.
“SNP ministers need to look at this as a matter of urgency as it seems likely other sex offenders will be exploiting this blind spot in the system.”
Kate Wallace, chief executive of Victim Support Scotland, said: “Children deserve to live happy, safe and fulfilled lives, free from abuse and predatory behaviour. It makes it even harder when those crimes are committed by people who have gained our trust in order to perpetrate crime on vulnerable children.”
Northumbria Police said: “As a force, we take reports of this nature very seriously and will always endeavour to do all we can to bring offenders to justice and keep people safe.”
It doesn’t matter how much time has passed. They are still dangerous VICTIM’S MUM ON BEAST ATTACKING SON