How to live with sex offenders?

TODAY’S news that more registered sex offenders are living in our communities will be of concern to many on a number of levels.

First of all, for the simple reason there are more monsters than ever in our midst – and because the law seems to act in their favour when it comes to getting more details about where they are living – and what they have done.

The results of an Evening Mail online poll showed yesterday that 90 per cent of those who responded felt they had the right to know if a sex offender was living on their street.

The stance is understandable. While some people are made to sign the sex offenders’ register for – in the grand scheme of things – relatively minor offences, there are plenty who have their name on the list because they have committed the most abhorrent of crimes.

It is these people of whom upstanding members of the community are rightly wary – especially those with children.

There is some degree of sanity in the authorities’ decision not to publish the addresses of such convicted criminals. We live in a civilised society where vigilante justice must never be seen to rule the streets. When emotions run high, however, this could quickly become the case.

Perhaps a whole hog policy of naming and shaming would prove to be a step too far.

But there must be some consideration given to how, as a community, we can be better aware of the sex offenders going about their daily lives – as, quite unaware, we go about ours.