Sarah's Law - The Way to Rise Attention to Child's Sex Offendence

Sarah’s law – Officially called ‘Child sex offender disclosure scheme’. The scheme, designed to protect a child/children was rolled out in England, Wales and in Scotland across all 43 police forces from 4 April 2011. Over the past 9 years since the law came into force, it has undoubtedly saved thousands of children from potential harm, however out of the thousands that have been protected, how many innocent lives have been intruded on if they are in fact innocent?

The law allows anyone to formally ask their local police if anyone who has contact with children, has a record of committing a child sex offence. The police have a legal obligation to disclosure whether that person is or is not on the sex offender register. There was a worry from some Charities that once the law commenced, sex offenders would disappear underground but there has been no evidence of that happening. Sarah’s law came into force in April 2011, since then there has been a rise in disclosures every year with the last financial year seeing over 219 disclosures being made. During the first year of the scheme, more than 200 children have been protected against potential harm. In 2013, just over two and a half years after the scheme was launched 4,754 application were made, with one in seven leading to a disclosure. This shows that parents/carers are aware of worrying behaviour surrounding their children. Teresa May, stated that the Government was doing everything they could to protect all children, but families still play a vital role. Even if parents are told there are no concerns after a disclosure has been made, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children warn those concerned to remain vigilant as Sarah’s Law can only disclose information of those who are on the sex offender register or there have been allegations for such offences, which ‘could create a false sense of security’. Out of 46 forces (included British Transport Police), 22 returned comparable data with at least 1,140 disclosures being made, this reiterates that parents are aware of how others act around their children and that some are aware of the scheme.

The way the scheme works, is that any member of the public can make a formal enquiry to their local police force, this can be by calling, attending a local station in person, online reporting or street encounter with a police officer. They will then have a face to face meeting to ensure the intentions are genuine, at this stage they are also given information on how to further safeguard their children. A full risk assessment is then undertaken with trained staff who have an understanding of child abuse. This will also include research and checks on the Police National Computer (PNC), Violent and Sex Offender Register (VISOR) accompanying this these trained members of staff will gather intelligence from local forces to fill in any gaps of information. As a result of the risk assessment, a decision is made as either ‘concerns’ or ‘no concerns’. If a decision of ‘concerns’ is made then a multi-agency meeting (MAPPA) is required to decide whether to disclose this information and if they tell the individual concerned that there has been an application made against them. If a disclosure is confidentially made to the applicant, they are made to sign a non-disclosure agreement which means they are not able to disclosure the information they are given to another member of the public. However this does not mean they won’t breach the non-disclosure agreement. Which may lead to sex offenders going underground due to vigilante attacks. At least once known sex offenders are released from prison, police know where they are. If the risk assessment comes back as ‘no concerns’, the applicant will be notified of this by letter or in person. They are also advised that just because there is no information on the database about the individual does not mean there is no risk of harm, and should continue taking steps to safeguard their children.

The fact that known sex offenders have been convicted or been in prison for their crimes, means individuals who have committed sex offences are already know by police due to the Sex Offenders Act 1997. The Sex Offenders Act 1997 was set up so that anyone convicted on a Sexual offence had to register with police within 3 days of their conviction or release from prison. They also have to notify police if they spend more than 7 days away from their home and register once a year with their local police force. Sex offenders are placed on the sex offenders register for a varying length of time. Offenders under the age of 18 are placed on the registered for 5 years, anyone over the age of 18 are placed indefinitely if they have served over 30 months in prison. Anything between 6 and 30 months remain on the register for 10 years. Furthermore, as police are more likely to know where sex offenders are, the question remains that there must be a balance between protection and allowing those who have successfully rehabilitated to lead positive lives. With the structure that is already in place, from probation services, police registers, and other agencies, it allows those to share information with members of the public if there is a safeguarding concern. In addition to that, the human rights of sex offenders should be considered when dealing with applications under Sarah’s law. In the high court in 2012 it was ruled that offenders should be given a say prior to their whereabouts being disclosed. 

Sarah’s law is there to protect children from protentional harm. There is evidence that the scheme has protected many children since it was rolled out in 2011. Used correctly is has been effective in protecting children. It was also designed to raise awareness about child sex abuse in the hope that parents/carers will be aware of strange behaviour around their child/children. On the reverse side of Sarah’s law, it remains, there are sex offenders who have served their time and rehabilitated back into society to lead positive lives. Is it intrusion on their lives when there is already a structure in place for police and other agencies to know where sex offender are? Which leads to a question of what does Sarah’s Law add to the already very well structured system.