Facebook campaign against abuser

The Surrey Herald reports that worried parents have begun a campaign against a convicted paedophile on Facebook.

The convicted man is being released from prison in June after serving two and a half years for committing child sex offences in Chertsey. The Facebook group claims that children used to stay at the man’s house before his conviction.

The Times Online reported on the 25^th January that “Sarah’s Law” is to be introduced to help parents check for paedophiles. Sarah Payne was the little girl murdered by a convicted child abuser around 10 years ago.

Her mother, Sara Payne has been campaigning to allow parents the right to check the criminal history of anyone who is in regular contact with their children. A pilot scheme has already been operating in four counties. It is understood that a national scheme will come into force at the end of this month. Briefly the new scheme will give parents the right to check with the police to find out whether someone with regular unsupervised access to their children, including friends and family, has a conviction for child abuse.

For more information see our blog on the 8th February 2010.