How Do I Find Out if Neighbour is a Sex Offender?

Q.

We have recently moved into a new area and have been told on two occasions that there is a child offender living in our street.

This is worrying enough, but the person we believe they are referring to has made several comments to us when we have been with our children. These have been quite innocent, but if this person is a child offender then the whole context changes!

We do not want to offend this person in case he isn't a child offender, but on the other hand, if he is, then I wouldn't let him within 100 yards of my children. For the safety of my children is there anyway I can find out if this person is a child offender?

A.

I can understand your concerns, and it’s only natural that you’re worried about your children’s safety. You haven’t mentioned who has told you this, but that it has come from two different sources. It may still just be idle gossip but your worry that a Sex Offender Is Living In Your Area is understandable.

Sarah’s Law

In 2000, the government was considering whether to allow the public access to the sex offenders’ register. It is called “Sarah’s Law” (after Sarah Payne, who was killed by paedophile Roy Whiting in 2000.) By 2010, the government piloted schemes across the country that were intended to allow mothers to find out whether their partners, or someone with whom their children had close contact, were sex offenders. This scheme should be rolled out nationwide by Spring 2011.

However, given the circumstances you have described, have you considered telephoning the police, or going to a police station, to tell them about your concerns? They have a duty to investigate your complaint.

Talking to The Police

If this individual has made comments to you about your children, or has been seen acting suspiciously, then it is obviously necessary to report this activity to the police; not only for the sake of your children, but also for other children living nearby. However, it could be the case that someone in your neighbourhood has deliberately, or inadvertently, started a rumour about this person – and rumours of this nature spread like wildfire.

Who Goes on the Sex Offenders' Register

Remember that what constitutes ‘sex offender’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘paedophile’. A wide variety of people are placed on the Sex Offenders' Register every year, after receiving a caution or being convicted of an offence. This could be, for example, a man who received a caution for having smacked a girl on the buttocks while she was passing him on the street, a 22-year-old female teacher who had sexual intercourse with her 15-year-old student, or at the very serious end of the scale, someone like Roy Whiting, who killed Sarah Payne.

Similarly, sex offenders are on the Sex Offenders' Register for differing lengths of time, depending on the type of offence. If they have served a jail term of 30 months to life, they will be on the register indefinitely (this is normally for life.) A jail term of 6 to 30 months means offenders are subject to registration for 10 years, and others (including those who are cautioned or get community sentences) are on the register for 7 years.

The Police Response

The police have all this information in their databases, and know where each sex offender lives. (If a sex offender fails to register, or fails to report a change of address, he or she could go to prison for up to five years.) At the moment if you try to find out from a police officer or police station whether someone is on the Sex Offenders' Register, they will cite the Data Protection Act as being their reason not to disclose any information to you. This may, in the future, be subject to change but we will have to look to parliament to put this into action. Hope this helps you.