500 paedophiles to be tracked by satellite tags
Paedophiles are to be electronically tagged in the UK for the first time in a move that could prompt a revolution in the treatment and monitoring of sex offenders.
A British company is to hold talks with Ministers in the next few weeks with a view to launching a Home Office-backed trial involving between 100 and 500 child sex offenders. It is also talking to government officials in the United States, Italy and Ireland and is to tag a number of paedophiles who have volunteered to wear the device.
Sky Guardian will unveil the first electronic device made specifically to track paedophiles at this month's Labour party conference and is to test the technology on a volunteer MP this week.
Civil liberty groups expressed deep concerns last night. 'If they have been released, they should be free to live their life in liberty. This muddies the waters between guilt and innocence,' said Mark Littlewood, campaigns director of Liberty.
'This is more likely to make them feel alienated. Once released they should be made to feel a normal member of the community.'
But the news is likely to be greeted favourably by child protection campaigners who have long called for the obligatory tagging of paedophiles.
Labour MP Dan Norris, a former social worker who specialised in child protection and will volunteer to be fitted with a tag this week, said: 'I know the danger that paedophiles pose. It can never stop the bad things that bad people do but it can minimise the risk. This is a potential revolutionary technology but we need to know whether it works. I intend to give it a proper test.'
Until now the technology to constantly monitor offenders has been suspect and paedophile experts have expressed fears that it did not allow for instant communication with offenders, which they say is crucial if it is to stop paedophiles reoffending.
Unlike tags now used to enforce curfews for general criminal offenders, which communicate on localised radio frequencies, the new device uses global satellite positioning technology. This will allow probation services and police to pinpoint the wearer anywhere in the UK to within three metres.
The device is capable of providing a detailed diary at the end of every day of where the user has been.
The electronic diary can be studied remotely by experts to build up a profile of the offender which will help them predict whether the person will offend again.
The new technology, which is attached to a person's ankle, is adapted from electronic tags fitted to offenders in the United States. The device has a wireless connection to a special mobile phone carried by the offender at all times. If the phone, which is linked to a call centre staffed by trained paedophile experts, is separated from the tag an alarm is triggered.
'This level of communication with an offender is absolutely essential if a mature and effective form of management is to work,' said Clive Crosby, managing director of Sky Guardian.
'To be able to have "Talk down" with an offender because he is in a high-risk area and likely to offend is the single most effective control measure that be applied,' Crosby added.
Home Secretary David Blunkett has expressed support for tagging paedophiles in the past and is keen to test the new GPS technology. Following the murder of Sarah Payne, Blunkett wrote: 'We are interested in tagging sex offenders released on supervision into the community, not least to ensure that they stick to the agreed location.'
The tag's appeal to police forces and probation services is obvious, but Ray Wyre, an expert on sex offenders who is working with Sky Guardian, said there were advantages for registered paedophiles, as well.
'Because it tracks where they go every day it would mean they would not have to be picked up every time there is an offence committed,' Wyre said.
'If you have a major investigation it takes up so much police time. This would be able to exclude them from the start.'
Wyre said the new technology was far cheaper than the current tagging devices used to enforce curfews and probation orders which costs around £500 per offender each month.
'We've heard the Government wants to pilot a scheme. This technology is so much more advanced than anything out there at the moment. Our feeling is to try it for 500 people. It costs around half the price,' Wyre said.
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