Sarah’s Law is being widened to allow all parents to ask if anyone with access to their children has a record of sex offences. Joe Willis looks at the scheme’s beginnings and successful trial in the North-East.

TEN years ago this summer, eightyear- old Sarah Payne was abducted while playing in a cornfield with her brothers and sister. Her body was found in a field 15 miles away, 17 days later. She had been murdered. It was this tragedy and the subsequent revelation that her killer, Roy Whiting, was a convicted child sex offender that prompted the call for Sarah’s Law.

Backed by Sarah’s mother, Sara Payne, the News of the World newspaper campaigned for parents to have controlled access to the Sex Offenders’ Register. That led, in 2007, to the Government launching the Child Sex Offender Review Pilot in four areas of the country, including Stockton.

The pilot was introduced in Stockton in September 2008 and rolled out across the Cleveland Police area in March the following year.

Under the scheme, parents, carers or guardians can ask police if someone with access to their child has a record of sex offences.

Police have the option of releasing information if they think it is in the child’s interest.

Other relatives can also alert the police, although information will only be given to parents or guardians.

Figures released this week show that the initiative has been responsible for safeguarding nearly 20 North-East youngsters.

The scheme operates under strict guidelines.

When a request for information is received by Cleveland Police, the call handler decides whether immediate action is needed. If not, the query is passed to the force’s disclosure officer.

This officer usually visits the caller to assess if the request meets the requirements.

From the beginning, the scheme was known as Sarah’s Law, although it has never been as far-reaching as originally envisaged by the campaigners.

Detective Chief Inspector Alastair Simpson, who has overseen the pilot for Cleveland Police, explains that it differs from Megan’s Law in the US, which was introduced following the murder by a convicted sex offender of sevenyear- old Megan Kanka.

In some US states, Megan’s Law has led to the names and addresses of paedophiles being published on the internet. Websites even feature links to satellite images of offenders’ homes. Critics claim this has led to convicted child molesters going underground.

Before the launch of the UK pilot, police were worried that the law could have a similar impact, not only encouraging offenders to disappear, but also forcing them to leave behind the things that helped to moderate their behaviour.

In a bid to avoid this, Det Chief Insp Simpson says the UK has taken a more “sensible”

approach, which includes visiting known offenders to discuss the introduction of the pilot.

He feels this has meant convicted sex offenders living on Teesside have not felt concerned about the risk of vigilante attacks.

“There were two main worries beforehand.

The first was that it would promote vigilantism – and this hasn’t happened,” he says. “The second was that it would drive sex offenders underground and that also hasn’t happened. For the most part, we know where they are and we know where to find them.”

While many in the US question the usefulness of Megan’s Law, Det Chief Insp Simpson believes the pilot scheme in Stockton has shown that rolling the UK scheme out countrywide will be a positive step.

“I think the pilot has been a big success,” he says. “There are sex offenders who have been arrested and charged as a result of the pilot, and we have taken action to safeguard children which we wouldn’t have done otherwise.”

The scheme will not stop all offending, he says, adding: “It has empowered the public. It’s given them an outlet to come and check if they have any doubts about someone and that is a positive thing.”

According to Det Chief Insp Simpson, the pilot has achieved the right balance, with the disclosure of information about a sex offender’s background only being made when it is found they have direct access to children.

Information has only been passed to the person with direct responsibility for the child, usually the parents, even if this is not the person who contacted police.

As well as identifying sex offenders posing a risk to children, the officer says the scheme has highlighted a number of individuals with a history of domestic abuse which their new partner was unaware of.

UNDER the pilot scheme, a sex offender was found trying to befriend children and one youngster was seen visiting his flat. In another instance, a grandmother asked police about her daughter’s new partner over fears for her grandchild. She was told of his extensive history of violence and use of weapons.

The scheme is being rolled out to 18 more forces in August before being introduced to the rest of the UK in March next year.

Det Chief Insp Simpson acknowledges that the scheme is not what Sarah Payne’s family had envisaged. People cannot go to their local police station to find out if there are any convicted child sex offenders living in their community.

It is unlikely that they could even find out if their neighbour is a paedophile.

This means that had the scheme been in operation in West Sussex in 2000 it is doubtful whether it would have prevented Sarah Payne’s murder.

But, as senior officers at Cleveland Police have said, if one child’s life is saved because of Sarah’s Law, it will have been worthwhile.

■ Cleveland Police runs a dedicated helpline for the scheme, on 01642-302902.

Further information is available at cleveland.police.uk