Sex offenders - Gardaí lack power over paedophiles

The fear of paedophile sex offenders loose in any community is a nightmare for parents of young children, and the admission before a joint Oireachtas committee yesterday by a senior member of the garda’s sexual assault unit that there are deficiencies in policing the problem will only add to the fears.

There are 971 people on the sex offenders’ register, which is almost three times the number in 2003. But gardaí are not using modern technology to keep track of them, and deficiencies in our laws are not making their task of protecting the public any easier.

It is absurd that gardaí should be trying to keep track of so many people merely on paper, without availing of the latest computer technology. Sex offenders are obliged to register regularly with the gardaí, but the law does not specify where, so an offender living in Cork can fulfil this legal obligation by registering in Cavan.

Worse still, sex offenders convicted in other jurisdictions are not required to register in this country, and the gardaí are almost powerless to deal with them. As the rate of recidivism is very high for paedophile offenders, this matter should be of particular concern to everyone.

A Scottish paedophile, convicted of the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl, recently violated his conditions of probation in the North and fled to this jurisdiction. He was recently seen in Cork, but the gardaí have no power to arrest him under current laws.

Members of the Oireachtas are only now considering what to do about this.

The whole issue will be highlighted internationally with the release tomorrow in the United States of an award-winning documentary, Deliver Us from Evil. It features Oliver O’Grady, a former Irish priest who served a seven-year prison term in California for paedophile offences. Part of it was filmed in a playground in Merrion Square, with children playing the background. O’Grady admitted that he still feels aroused around children.

He acknowledged molesting a young girl in an American summer camp in 1976, and fondling a nine-year-old boy in 1984, but no charges were brought. He acknowledged interfering with up to 25 children over 20 years.

He was moved from one parish to another until 1993, when he was convicted on four counts of lewd and lascivious acts on two brothers.

This raises serious issues about the negligent behaviour of Church authorities in the United States, where one of O’Grady’s victims was awarded $30 million against the Church. Although the sum was later reduced to $7m, it was still a serious indictment of the Church’s failure to address such problems properly. It should also be a warning of the need for legislators here to tighten up our laws without delay.

Megan’s law is an American colloquial term used to cover state laws requiring law enforcement authorities to identify sex offenders so that concerned people, such as parents, can identify offenders in their locality.

Publishing the names of such people could promote vigilantism, but as things stand parents here cannot even be confident that local gardaí are properly informed.

This is a disgraceful situation that needs to be addressed without delay.