SIMPSON DEMANDS ANSWERS ON PAEDOPHILES
MP David Simpson has demanded to know how many paedophiles are living in the Banbridge district.
His call comes in the same week that MASRAM, the group set up to monitor sex offenders in Northern Ireland, confirmed the presence of a number of sex offenders in the local area.
And to keep track of these evil monsters each has a specially designed management plan.
The issue was raised recently at a meeting of Banbridge District Policing Partnership when a member of the public asked local police chief Christine McCullough how many paedophiles were living in the district amid growing concerns that more are being moved into the area.
She will report back at the next meeting of the DPP, although Mr Simpson, DUP Upper Bann MP, wants answers sooner.
Experts claim 80 per cent of sexual offences go unreported, meaning it is almost impossible to gauge how many paedophiles are at large in the district.
But a MASRAM spokesperson said: "I can confirm that there is a small number of sex offenders living in the Banbridge area who have been subject to the MASRAM process.
"All have undergone risk assessments and each has an individually tailored risk management plan, the detail and extent of which is determined by the risk category."
Mr Simpson has tabled a question at Westminster asking the Secretary of State to declare exactly how many paedophiles are living in each council area.
"These are disturbing findings and made all the more so by the fact that the general public hasn't any idea of where these people are," said Mr Simpson.
"I have already tabled a question at Westminster and await the Secretary of State's response with interest."
Since 2001 there has been a well-defined system in place in Northern Ireland for assessing and managing the risk posed by sex offenders.
Known as the Multi-Agency Sex Offender Risk Assessment and Management (MASRAM) arrangements, the process assesses the risk posed by every sex offender and allows an appropriate risk management plan to be prepared and delivered.
The primary purpose of the risk assessment and risk management of sex offenders or Potentially Dangerous Persons (PDPs) is to help protect the public from harm by reducing the offender's/PDP's opportunity and/or inclination to re-offend.
Sex offending is an issue of widespread public concern and rightly so. There are over 10,500 people in Northern Ireland who have convictions for sex offences. It should also be noted that estimates suggest that up to 70 - 80% of sexual offences don't get reported to criminal justice agencies.
THE FOLLOWING IS BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON SEX OFFENDERS
Society as a whole needs to accept that sex offenders are in the community, they are from all walks of life and they display a range of offending behaviour - not all against children – and they can be any age – even children can display sexually harmful behaviour. So there is no such thing as a typical sex offender.
People who commit sexual offences differ in their level of impulsiveness, their sexual interests, their attitudes and beliefs about offenders, their level of risk to the public, and their desire to change their behaviour. In most cases sex offenders are known to their victims either as family members, relatives, neighbours or acquaintances.
It is important to remember that not all sex offenders are paedophiles and indeed not all paedophiles are sex offenders. The correct definition of a paedophile is someone whose sexual fantasies and erotic imagery focus on pre-pubertal children. A child sex offender is an individual who engages in illegal sexual activity with children. So paedophiles only become sex offenders when they commit a crime.
In Northern Ireland where sex offences are reported, offenders who are subsequently convicted, pass through what is now a very well-established system involving what are known as the MASRAM (multi-agency sex offender risk assessment and management) arrangements. There are just over 850 sex offenders who are covered by the MASRAM arrangements which have been operating in Northern Ireland since 2001
The MASRAM process is a multi-agency system where several agencies such as the police, Prison Service, Probation Board, the Housing Executive and social services, each with a particular specialist expertise, work closely together, sharing information on sex offenders to assess the risks they pose and to put in place appropriate action plans to manage those risks.
The MASRAM arrangements apply to all adult sex offenders who have been required to notify under the terms of Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and to persons who have been convicted of a sexual offence or a sexually motivated offence (either prior to September 1997 or since) and about whom there are current grave concerns.
Recent public statistics and research have indicated that in general recidivism amongst sex offenders is very low, perhaps lower than any other group of offender. The objective in the MASRAM arrangements is to identify those who do pose a risk and to address that risk through robust management plans.
THE MASRAM PROCESS
What is MASRAM?
Since 2001 there has been a well-defined system in place in Northern Ireland for assessing and managing the risk posed by sex offenders.
Known as the Multi-Agency Sex Offender Risk Assessment and Management (MASRAM) arrangements, the process assesses the risk posed by every sex offender and allows an appropriate risk management plan to be prepared and delivered.
The primary purpose of the risk assessment and risk management of sex offenders or Potentially Dangerous Persons (PDPs) is to help protect the public from harm by reducing the offender's/PDP's opportunity and/or inclination to re-offend.
Risk assessment is carried out on:
• All adult sex offenders who have been required to notify (register) under the terms of Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003
• Persons who have been convicted of a sexual offence or a sexually motivated offence (either prior to September 1997 or since) and about whom there are current grave concerns.
• Potentially Dangerous Persons (PDPs) – since 1 0ctober 2006
Those who are identified as posing a medium or high risk of further sexual offending, and of causing serious harm as a result, are subject to multi-agency risk management. (see What Happens)
Assessing the Risk
To work effectively, the MASRAM process depends upon relevant, accurate information being available in good time to help those making risk assessments and drawing up risk management plans. The agencies involved recognise that the sharing of information between agencies is critical and each has signed up to an information sharing agreement.
A dedicated PSNI department known as the MASRAM Unit defines an initial risk category for each convicted or cautioned offender (or suspect in the case of someone who is in the process of being prosecuted for sexual assault of a child or serious sexual assault of an adult). In doing so, the MASRAM Unit uses a well-recognised and validated risk assessment instrument called Matrix 2000. This takes account of previous offending behaviour and is designed to predict the likelihood of the person re-offending in a similar way. It identifies whether an offender presents a low, medium or high risk of re-offending.
The MASRAM Unit then presents the case and the initial assessment to a multi-agency group known as an Area Sex Offender Risk Management Committee (ASORMC). There are a number of these committees covering both prisons and all geographical areas in Northern Ireland. Each is chaired by a Probation Board Manager and is made up of police officers, probation officers, social workers, prison staff and other professionals.
The ASORMC carries out a further risk assessment which takes into consideration not only the person's offending behaviour but also his/her present behaviour and current circumstances. Other information used could include previous convictions, previous assessments where available, progress reports on offender programmes, witness and victim statements and details of interviews with the offender or PDP.
Both the initial MASRAM Unit assessment and the further ASORMC assessment, taken together, result in the offender being confirmed in one of three categories of risk.
Risk Assessment Categories
Category 1 (Low Risk)
"Someone whose behaviour gives no current cause for concern with regard to their capacity to seriously harm other people or carry out a contact sexual offence."
Category 2 (Medium Risk)
"Someone whose behaviour gives clear cause for concern with regard to his or her capacity to carry out a contact sexual offence."
Category 3 (High Risk)
"Someone whose sexual offending has been assessed as currently likely to lead them to seriously harm other people."
A short time before a convicted offender is released from prison, the ASORMC will convene again to review the risk category in preparation for the offender returning to the community and to ensure that appropriate risk management arrangements are put in place.
How are the Risks Managed?
Category 1 (Low Risk) cases are referred to the Probation Board (if they already have some contact with the offender either because he/she is subject to a Court Order or because he/she has voluntarily agreed to work with Probation), or to the police for supervision and monitoring. These are cases where it is considered that the low level risks posed by the offender can be managed by one agency without actively or significantly involving other agencies.
Multi-agency Risk Management Plans are developed for all Category 2 (Medium Risk) and Category 3 (High Risk) cases. In each case, a Designated Risk Manager (DRM) is appointed from either probation, where the offender is subject to a Probation Board supervised sentence, or police in all other cases. The DRM has specific responsibility for overseeing the risk management plan and ensuring that the actions contained in it are carried out.
Individual Risk Management Plans
Risk management plans are specifically tailored to each offender and set out all the actions which the agencies will take, or require of the offender, to minimise the risks he/she poses. This will include visits from the DRM, other professionals who report to the DRM and from police to make sure the offender is complying with his/her plan. Visits will be both announced and unannounced and in some cases, where it is considered necessary, they will be carried out on a daily basis.
Case Reviews
Each case is subject to a regular scheduled review by the relevant Area Sex Offender Risk Management Committee. Category 2 (Medium Risk) cases are reviewed at least on a quarterly basis and Category 3 (High Risk) cases are reviewed at least monthly.
Sex Offender Register
All offenders who have been cautioned or convicted of a sexual offence since 1 September 1997, and all those who were released from prison for sexual offences on or after that date, are also subject to sex offender registration or notification.
Disclosure of Information
Why is information not given out about where sex offenders are living?
There are two main reasons:
1. Because it is against the law, under the Data Protection Act, for the police or probation to routinely disclose information about the location or management of individual offenders to third parties.
2. Because, in a majority of cases, uncontrolled release of information about individual offenders is not the best way to offer a high level of protection. When the agencies know who offenders are and can influence where they are and what they are doing, the public are safer.
Agencies do however disclose information about offenders in a controlled way when to do so is in the public interest and where it is not possible to reduce the risk through other means. Each case is considered on its own merits. Information is released when it is the combined view of the agencies that there is a need to disclose an offender's identity in order to provide better protection to an individual, a community or the public in general.
The decision to disclose personal or confidential information about an individual will in all cases be made by an Assistant Chief Constable following a recommendation from an Area Sex Offender Risk Management Committee.
The agencies involved appreciate this has to be an issue of trust and confidence, but the public should be assured that they have no motive in their dealings with these offenders except to make life safer for us all, particularly our children.
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Sunday 05 February 2012
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