Should Sex Offenders, Tagging And ID Cards
IN the Derry Journal: “Sex offenders ’should be tagged and forced to show their faces’”
CONVICTED sex offenders should be electronically tagged and have no rights to anonymity, says Strabane SDLP Councillor Eugene McMenamin.
Speaking after a Strabane DPP meeting on Wednesday evening, Colr McMenamin said: “It’s a fact that in America people can go on a website and find out if any registered sex offenders live in their area. It’s called Megan’s Law but, unfortunately, the law was unsuccessful when they tried to get it passed in the UK.”
Under Megan’s Law, commonly included information includes the sex offender’s name, picture, address and the nature of the crime. The information is often displayed on websites and can be published in newspapers.
Mr. McMenamin believes that giving sex offenders any degree of anonymity is “totally wrong”.
He said: “It is totally wrong that these people can be given anonymity if they have been convicted. In a lot of cases, nobody knows who these people are until they have attacked someone. We only catch a glimpse of their faces if a photographer manages to sneak a photo as they are going in or out of court. There is no way they should ever be located near young families, schools or children”
But the police know who they are. So what good everyone knowing? What is the aim of jail - rehabilitation or punishment?
Mr. McMenamin says: “Look at the situation in Dewsbury with that missing girl. It was mentioned at the DPP meeting, the danger of people driving round trying to pick up children and it can be dismissed all too easily. It has been reported in Strabane and Derry recently.
“That’s why I’m all for tagging. We should know where these characters are 24/7.People mention ‘human rights’ when arguing against tagging, but what human rights does a victim who is being molested or raped have? None whatsoever,” he concluded.
But are all depraved sex attackers on a register? Do they all have a criminal record? Have they all been caught? Should we all be tagged..?
Posted: 1st, March 2008 | In: Politicians, Twitterings Comments (2) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
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March 1st, 2008 at 12:14 pm
I agree with all of the previous message, and I would add that the most dangerous offenders are the ones who haven’t been caught. With the CRB system in place everywhere now, parents are enjoying a feeling of ’security’, calm in the ‘knowledge’ that their kids are safe with whomever they have been left with. At least with the convicted offenders, the police know where and who they are and have their DNA on file. They neither know nor possess anything of the many who have yet to be caught and have free and official access to kids.
March 1st, 2008 at 9:58 am
Difficult one, yes the paedos should be tagged, BUT what about mistaken identity and keeping records up to date.
And those morons who beat up a paediatrician always springs to mind. Vigilant groups as well, once the blood is up are a pack of thugs, no more, no less.
Personally, I think peados are never contrite or curable, so jail is the safest option all round.
Its not a case of Human Rights to my mind, but an all too human reaction to an innocent lookalike