Judges ‘unable to deal with net perverts’

JUDGES and probation officers are ill-equipped to adequately sentence or deal with adults who use the internet to prey on children for sexual pleasure, a youth worker has claimed.

Speaking at a Colloquium at University College Cork yesterday on Victimisation with Child Pornography, Merlyn Horton with SOLOS (Safe Online Outreach Society) said most judges and probation officers do not understand the web and are at a lost technologically, as most adults.

“They are usually old white guys in ties. The lawmakers do not spend five hours every night in chat rooms. They do not understand how the internet works,” Ms Horton said.