The debate over the News of the World’s campaign to name and shame paedophiles shows no sign of ending yet. Around the UK, regional and local papers are keeping the issue alive with fresh angles. At the Hartlepool Mail, journalist Bernice Saltzer interviewed the police chief who heads up the Cleveland Sex Offenders Unit for his views on the current controversy

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It has been a difficult few weeks for members of Cleveland Police’s Sex Offenders Unit.

The officers with the unenviable task of keeping tabs on the 160 people across Teesside on the sex offenders register have watched the public hysteria whipped up by a Sunday tabloid, calling for people to be told if a convicted paedophile lives in their area and identifying them and their whereabouts.

It’s understandable that such crimes meet with such a strong reaction, but it doesn’t make the job any easier for those who are dealing with these people once they are released from prison.

And the real truth is that a campaign such as this may achieve nothing more than forcing paedophiles underground – and where nobody can find them.

Cleveland’s Sex Offenders Unit is part of the Child Protection Unit and deals not only with those convicted of sexual crimes against children but of similar crime against adults.

It was set up in 1997 when the sex offenders’ register came into being and deals with all the people who are on that list.

Heading the unit is acting Detective Inspector Shane Sellers who, like many other officers, sees the current campaign as irresponsible.

“The truth of the situation is that most sex offenders offend within their own families,” he said. “The paedophile targeting an unknown child in the street is thankfully very rare, as it is with sex offenders who target female adults they don’t know.

“People have this perception that there is some individual waiting in an alley to grab a child but most of the time that just doesn’t happen.”

That’s not to underestimate the horror of the cases when this does occur, but statistics show that paedophiles are much more likely to operate among children they know.

What DI Sellers is now very keen to do is to let the public know that, far from paedophiles being let loose at random amidst an unknowing public, there is a strong support system to keep tabs on them once they are released from prison.

Police are informed before a sex offender is released that there is someone who will be going on the register and they meet with probation and other relevant organisations to make an initial risk assessment.

“This will then be reviewed to see if we need to be in contact with them weekly or monthly, look at where they are going to live, where they might be employed and anything relevant,” explained the officer.

Risk assessment categorises the offender between low risk to very high risk, based on a system called Risk Matrix 2000 developed by Dr David Thornton.

It’s a tried and tested and recently updated method which seems effective in helping decide how best to handle individual cases.

“The risk matrix is a tool which we use to handle these situations,” said the officer.

“And obviously we also listen to what other agencies have to say, it’s not something that the police can do alone.”

Mr Sellers and his team regularly visit all the known sex offenders on Teesside – where there are 160 on licence and 40 in prison – to ensure they are sticking to the conditions of their release.

This can include being part of a sex offenders programme and ensuring that they are sticking to the conditions of their licence.

The fact that the whereabouts of a paedophile is not made public knowledge doesn’t mean that people aren’t informed when necessary and the police would pass on the information if they felt it was necessary.

In one instance a released paedophile was living near a school and there was a great outcry when the fact came to light.

“The fact was that this man had abused children in his own family and that was the way he operated,” said DI Sellers.

“So he wasn’t a risk to anyone else’s children.”

He argues that it is because they have all the information at hand that the professionals are able to make decisions – those which will protect the public and allow the released offender to try and get on with their lives.

“We take our job very serious and the people on the register are visited regularly and we work with all the other agencies,” said the Detective Inspector.

“We need to educate the public that we are not sitting around doing nothing, that we are protecting their children but also have a duty to the people out on licence.

“And I think the system we have in Cleveland works really well.”

To read about the Peterborough Evening Telegraph and a local police chief going head-to-head on the “naming and shaming” debate click here

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