Quoted from Simpson

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=127187

[i]Paedophile name and shame plan attacked
Saturday Sep 2 14:55 AEST

Publishing the names, photos and addresses of convicted paedophiles would drive offenders underground and make it harder for authorities to monitor them, the NSW Government says.

The NSW opposition has proposed a US-style "Megan's law" under which details of convicted paedophiles deemed at high risk of reoffending would be published on the internet.

If they are deemed high risk, they should not be let out of prison. The safety of children should be paramount.

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Opposition Leader Peter Debnam said families had a right to know if they were living near a convicted paedophile.

I agree.

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Adult paedophiles could not be rehabilitated and needed to be managed to make sure they do not reoffend, he said.

"This is a case of dealing with adult offenders, who I think it's generally agreed won't be rehabilitated. The question is how you manage them," Mr Debnam said.

We shouldn't need to manage them. It is time Civil Liberties were directed to the potential victims.

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Ms Johnston said all parents should assume there might be a paedophile in their neighbourhood and teach their children appropriate protective behaviour.

Paedophiles, however, are cunning enough to use tactics that overcome this teaching. Also, how many of us actually learn from other peoples experiences?

Viv

Definately should...

Its too big a risk not to identify them in society.

Seems some are answering out of ignorance at what is really being proposed and what is currently done with known paedophiles released into society.

First of all Megan's law (the public naming and informing neighbours of known peadophiles in the US) is a failure on nearly all fronts. So much so that two states (Hawaii and Alaska) have repealed the law and others are contemplating following suit.

The reason naming and shaming fails all over the world is that it does two things. First, vigilantes inevitably form to punish the paedophile, detroying their dwellings (which are mostly not theirs) and occassionally harming innocent people, even attacking the wrong person by mistake. The outing of paedophiles inevitably causes a bigger law and order headache for both the police and the people in the area than not outing them.

Secondly the paedophiles always go underground and disappear off the police's radar when they are publically named. All paepdophiles are tracked by police nationally in a child sex offender register. This mostly works because the paedophile believes they are anonymous when in fact nearly all their movements are continually monitored and they must report all major movements to the police. To fail to do so is to be immediately re-imprisoned. Naming and shaming just forces these people to go completely underground, drop off the child sex offender register and get new identities, which makes it much harder to find them and costs society a lot more in scarce police and financial resources.

Naming and shaming has failed everywhere else in the world so I don't know what magic bullet Debnam has that makes him believe it will work in NSW under his jurisdiction and where he plans to get all the extra money and police that will be required to bodyguard and track the shamed paedophile, just as much to protect the innocent public and property around the sex offender as the offender themselves.

For naming and shaming to work . . the criminal justice system would need to work to perfection. (good luck on that score)

This week there was a story from the US about a father killing a neighbour who his daughter reported had 'touched ' her. Dad just snapped and killed without a trial. That man may have been innocent!!. . now the daughter could have a guilty conscience for the rest of her life.  

The only way to protect society and keep the accused alive without costing the taxpayer billions is to build  cities where criminals live  . . like an open prison where they all work at jobs and pay their way  . . but in a 'gated city'.
They must  remain there for the protection of themselves and the community.
The only other alternative is to use the death penalty . . and a review of the prevalence of pornography  . .it is behind the growing phenomenon of 'street kidnapps' where women are being snatched off public streets and sexually assaulted by men and gangs who have been 'revved up' on disgusting films/photos that degrade women.

Is the community prepared to take a strong stand to protect the vulnerable in our society??. . I'm not holding my breath.  

Quoted from Simpson

Adult paedophiles could not be rehabilitated and needed to be managed to make sure they do not reoffend...

So what's the point in having these paedophiles around if they can't be rehabilitated? A farm dog who has a natural instinct to chase and kill sheep is immediatly shot. And lets face it, these men behave worse than animals...

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like an open prison where they all work at jobs and pay their way  . . but in a 'gated city'. They must  remain there for the protection of themselves and the community

That is called a community - maybe not the way you are refering too but it is one never the less.

Now,

i'm going to put a spanner in the works and this is hypothetical.

You have been convicted of a crime (serious) - you have done your time in a gaol, you have managed to increase your education and learnt a new career, been on your best behaviour whilst serving your time.

Do you think and feel that you can now contibute effectively in the society and then you find your details and picture plastered all over the community board at the local shop that you attend how would you feel ?

Quoted from ALLEYCAT

. . . . , been on your best behaviour whilst serving your time.

Do you think and feel that you can now contibute effectively in the society and then you find your details and picture plasted all over the community board at the local shop that you attend how would you feel ?

History shows that many offenders learn from gaol time. . but sex offenders seem to be different.
Many re-offend and even accepted therapies have only limited benefits.
I would not want my girls to live next door to one. . (leopards don't change their spots).

Maybe a file can be set up in Police Stations where people can go and have a look at anyone listed in their local area . . . they would have to show I.D before being shown the details (to prevent vigilante attacks)
It is an invasion of privacy and plain dangerous to use web pages to list everyone in Australia. . it does make them a target and could put innocent lives at risk if mistaken identity causes violence.

agree with your solution in regard to sex offenders. I feel however that the issue is deeper than just a registry.

Punishment should be harder in the first place - not the pathetic system we have now what benefit is tossing one in jail 2 years and be out in 6 months on good behaviour.

Child welfare service need to have a little more teeth and they should be involved a lot more in such cases currently they are not.

I have attended a number of cases during my time, and more often than not welfare services were not even notified or even attended. I find the system 'wanting'.

There is more than one victim in a child sex offence that people fail to see, granted the child is the first issue that has to be dealt with thats a matter of fact, however, you have to address the relatives , the police that attended,as well as the AOs  and as said prior the offender themselves.

I fail to see how a paedophile could be rehabilitated, short of giving them a lobotomy. They seem to be a "special" group of people who really, for whatever reason, are unable to mend their ways. Shoot them all. Why waste resources in trying to rehabilitate them.

The problem with the crimes these perverts do is the delayed reaction for the victim.

A 10 year old child is molested . .goes to the police. . and finally gets a court appearance (very bravely). . and the offender goes to gaol.
It does not matter whether he is in prison 6 months or 60 years. . the delayed trauma for the victim becomes more apparent as years pass.

A victim impact statement was handed to a court in just such a case many years ago . .and the tactless judge concluded that the victim was unlikely to suffer long term harm . .so all was good.  

Little did he understand that a 10 year old cannot manifest trauma of that type until they get into an adult relationship and after many years . . the old horrors  do arise in their memory.
Just like 'war veterans' trauma.
Trust issues, sexual dysfunction, relationship breakdowns and family upheaval are the later results of this kind of crime . .it just takes over 20 years to arrive.  

Hmm,  seems that you failed to read my post as it was intended.

Vecordious;

Everyone has a right to equality in the system . no matter the crime people have a right to  be given the oppotunity to be rehabiltated - some fail some , some do not. they should be at least given that opportunity.

Gizmo

You picked up on the sentence about jail but there was another issue there - Child Welfare Service ( as I am relating to the ongoing care of the victim) need to be more involved.  

Quoted from ALLEYCAT

Vecordious;

Everyone has a right to equality in the system . no matter the crime people have a right to  be given the oppotunity to be rehabiltated - some fail some , some do not. they should be at least given that opportunity.

  

I would agree with you regarding any other crime, but paedophilia is in a league of its own.

Quoted from ALLEYCAT

Everyone has a right to equality in the system . no matter the crime people have a right to  be given the oppotunity to be rehabiltated - some fail some , some do not. they should be at least given that opportunity.

Quoted from vecordious

I would agree with you regarding any other crime, but paedophilia is in a league of its own.

The article clearly says that paedophiles cannot be rehabillitated. So there is no point in trying. Perhaps this is the answer?

"Well, Bart, your uncle Arthur used to have a saying: "Shoot 'em all and let God sort 'em out."  Unfortunately, one day put his theory into practice.  It took 75 federal marshalls to bring him down.  Now let's never speak of him again."

- The Simpsons, Episode 1F19 'The Boy Who Knew Too Much'

Maybe we should "Scarlet Letter" them ie brand their foreheads with a Letter P or something...this issue is too close to home for me and I for one think they should all be hung by their bits.  But that's just me.