New law to unmask child sex offenders

PARENTS are to be given the right to know whether someone who has regular contact with their children is a sex offender, the Scottish Government announced yesterday.

The new scheme will allow parents or guardians to ask the police whether a new partner or another adult with easy access to their child, such as a neighbour or babysitter, has convictions for child sex offences.

The move has been welcomed by the police, social services directors and children's charities, who all believe it will help parents protect children.

Justice secretary Kenny MacAskill said there were few more important issues to tackle.

"There are few crimes more damaging, more emotive and more sensitive than sexual offences against children," he said.

The issue came into focus after the murder of eight-year-old Mark Cummings in 2004 by convicted sex offender Stuart Leggate who lived in the same tower block.

None of the residents in the block in Royston, Glasgow, was told when Leggate moved in.

Campaigners for a new "Mark's Law" had called for a total disclosure of names of anyone on the sexual offenders register.

But Mr MacAskill refused to offer blanket disclosure on all known paedophiles because he claimed this would drive them underground, making them a greater risk.

He added: "While we must all rightly be alert to 'stranger danger', most sexual offences against children are in fact committed by individuals known to the child's family, adults who abuse a position of trust with that child."

Margaret Ann Cummings, 33, Mark's mother, was delighted with the announcement.

"This step is such a positive one and fantastic news," she said. "A family member may not realise an individual with access to their child poses a threat – but others might."

She said it was a fitting tribute to her son.

The scheme, which has been anticipated for almost a year, will be piloted by one of Scotland's eight police forces, although it is still to be decided which one.

The pilot will start in September and end in May 2010, with a decision expected shortly afterwards on whether to extend it to the whole of Scotland.

Mr MacAskill's announcement of a pilot project in Scotland has also met with cross party support.

Conservative leader Annabel Goldie said: "We must consider all reasonable steps to protect our children from the evil of predatory sex offenders. I am pleased that the Scottish Government has now responded and will introduce a trial later this year."

The Mark's Law campaign was also supported strongly by the Labour MSP for Glasgow Springburn, Paul Martin, who welcomed the step.

But he promised to watch it closely and continue to campaign on the issue.

The pilot project will allow members of the public to call for background checks – with a presumption that police will tell parents if the person identified has convictions for sex offences.

If a youngster is found to be at serious risk of harm then child protection measures will be instigated.

The scheme has been tested in Warwickshire, where a delegation from the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland went to see whether it could be brought to Scotland.

Assistant Chief Constable Bill Harkins, of Tayside Police, said: "I was convinced by the experience of the officers there that there is the potential for real public benefit from trialling the scheme in Scotland.

"I am delighted that we are able to work with the Scottish Government and our partners on this project, which I believe will be a useful extension to the existing range of techniques available to protect the public."

There was also support from social workers. A spokeswoman from the Association of Directors of Social Work said: "We are supportive of this pilot scheme and will be working closely with colleagues from the police during the pilot."

Anne Houston, chief executive of the charity Children 1st agreed that the introduction of the Scottish equivalent of a Megan's law, which in America provides full disclosure, would be damaging and claimed that it may deter children from reporting abuse.

But she welcomed the compromise being put forward by the Scottish Government.

"The planned pilot will allow parents and carers to make careful checks as part of their protection of their children," she said.

"The pilots suggest that the police have been able to gather helpful intelligence which improves wider child protection. Members of the local community have been encouraged to exercise their responsibility to children by alerting the authorities, knowing that their concerns will be followed through."

It is hoped an evaluation of the pilot will provide evidence of how well restricted community disclosure works in further protecting vulnerable children and ultimately lead to the measure being made permanent.

Analysis: Bill Aitken - A step forward – but we must beware of vigilantes

THE sum of all parents' nightmares is that their child should be abducted, sexually assaulted and murdered.

The absolutely appalling case of Mark Cummings, who was murdered by a convicted sex offender, highlighted the extent to which there is negligible supervision of convicted sex offenders in communities.

It is understandable that the public outcry has prompted the Scottish Government to take this action.

The public do have a right to know, but there has to be a degree of sensitivity as to the circumstances in which it is appropriate to make an offender's record publicly known.

Sex offenders are understandably despised and feared in equal measure.

However, the danger of vigilante-style justice exists, particularly against the background of any recent incident in a particular area.

It is, like everything else, a question of balance, but I think the Scottish Government are correct to follow this course.

The one aspect which perhaps needs to be highlighted – and I know that this is an unpalatable truth – is that children are in much more danger of being assaulted in their own home by a relation or someone known to them, such as their mother's boyfriend, for example, than attacked by predatory paedophiles outside the home.

There is an awful lot of work still to be done on child protection issues, but this is a positive step forward.

• Bill Aitken is the convener of the Scottish Parliament's justice committee and the Conservatives' justice spokesman